Simple and Clean
by xXCoCaGirlXx
Summary: When Destiny Islands is shrouded in darkness, Akari and Sora are separated from Riku and Kairi. They are left to face numerous enemies, dangerous obstacles, and a dark figure bent on destroying everything. When they wanted to go find new Worlds, what Sora and Akari got wasn't what they signed up for. However, who said they ever had a choice? Eventual Sora-X-OC.
1. Beginnings

**A/N: Hi everyone! I hope you all will like this story! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, their names, their attacks, their stories, backgrounds, or anything, they are all owned by Square Enix and Disney NOT by me!**

**Anyway, enjoy the first chapter!**

~*~*~*Story Start*~*~*~

I let out a sigh as I brushed my hand through my hair, stopping as I looked around the sand. The sun was already high in the sky, and I needed to find a certain brunette before Riku killed me. The raft wasn't close to being done by the time we had originally planned, and if we wanted to make that deadline we needed to get Sora off his butt. The only problem was, how the heck could I find him if I didn't know where he was? Shaking my head I turned on my heel and walked long the shore, knowing that Sora had to be somewhere around here, he loves to spend most of the day lazing around the beach and sleeping. However, when I saw a head of red hair I quickly went over to her.

"Kairi!" I called, jogging up to the red haired girl. "I need your help!"

Kairi turned to me and gave me a smile once I reached her. "Looking for Sora?" she asked almost immediately, and I fought off the blunt look that appeared on my face. Was it that obvious?

"Please tell me you know where he is!" I looked at her with a desperate look. "Riku will kill me if I don't find him," I said with a whine in my voice, just imagining what he would do to me if I didn't find that him. I swear if Riku asked Kairi he would be a lot nicer to her!

"Nope, haven't seen him all day," she said with a shake of her head.

I groaned sadly, "I'm dead."

"Hey, don't worry I'll help!" Kairi said with a laugh.

I immediately flung myself on the poor girl, almost crushing her in my happy induced hug. "Thank you so much!" I let her go, ignoring her slightly startled look. "Besides even if we don't find him at least Riku will be nicer if you're with me," I said with a wide grin on my lips.

Kairi blinked raising an eyebrow. "Huh? What do you mean?" she asked in confusion.

"Well, he will..." I mumbled with a pout on my lips.

Kairi suddenly tugged my arm, making me stumble before walking with her, not noticing her reddening cheeks. "Anyway, we got to get Sora, right? The raft still needs some work," she said quickly.

I nodded, not noticing her behavior, my dark honey eyes training once again on the shore. "Right, so once we find Sora, what are we gonna do? You know, are we gonna look for some supplies and stuff? Or are we gonna build more of the raft?" I asked looking at her briefly, we were leaving pretty soon but we weren't really done. As I said before.

"Hmm..." Kairi hummed, eyes narrowing in thought. "I think you and Sora are going to be looking for stuff for the raft. I'll tell you two when we find Sora, okay?"

I stopped, staring at her blankly. "Come again?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kairi smirked. "What? You thought you wouldn't be helping?" she asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

I just let out a groan as I dragged my feet to walk beside her once again. Kairi let out a laugh, making me shoot her a look, but dropped it as I once again started to look around the beach. However, after a few minutes of searching it wasn't possible how he couldn't be on the main island without us seeing him, so Kairi and I decided to take the second canoe over to our smaller island across from the island, knowing that Riku will go there sooner or later. Once crossing we tied the canoe to the dock, and I took note of the first canoe in the same position, before we stepped out on to the white sand. Moving my dark blue eyes over the shoreline I saw red, yellow and white appear before my sight, and spiky brown hair. I let out a sigh, seeing that his eyes were closed with his arms cushioning the back of his head. Tugging on Kairi's arm I led her over to the boy as he began to rise from his sleep. He looked a bit dazed but shook his head before he let out a yawn, slowly falling back onto the sand once again. Kairi and I stopped right before his head and leaned over him, watching him as he opened his eyes a bit at our shadows, and we both smiled down at him.

"Whoa!" Sora shouted, jerking back up, but let out a laugh as he turned around, sitting on his knees. "Gimme a break you guys."

I straightened up along with Kairi. "Aw, we like messing with you," I joked.

"Sora, you lazy bum." Kairi shook her head with a smile of her own on her lips. "We should have known that we'd find you snoozing down here," she said, clasping her hands behind her back.

Sora suddenly got a look on his face that made me look at him worriedly. "No! This huge, black THING swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't-" My worried look dropped and I hit him over the head, an unamused look on my face, I thought something happened! "Ow!" he whined, rubbing his 'wounded' head.

"Are you still dreaming?" I asked, leaning down to met the brunette face to face.

Kairi nodded, looking around. "Yeah, I don't see anything 'huge, black THINGs' running around nearby," she pointed out turning back to him.

Sora shook his head. "It wasn't a dream!" He looked down, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Or was it? I don't know. What was that place? So bizarre..." he mumbled to himself before he trailed off in a whisper.

"Yeah, sure," Kairi said as we glanced at each other, rolling our eyes.

I looked down at him again, ruffling his spiky hair. "You just had a bad dream, I told you to stop falling asleep directly in the sun, Sora," I said with a small frown on my lips as I watched him push my hand away, fixing his hair with an 'annoyed' look on his face. However, the sound of something attacking him bothered me very badly, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. For now, anyway.

"Say, Kairi," Sora suddenly asked the red haired girl, turning around to look at her as she walked towards the edge of the water, "what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up."

I sent him a look. "Sora," I mumbled quietly in warning.

Sora just sent me an innocent look, making me shake my head at him, but I smiled nonetheless.

Kairi, however, let out a laugh despite how frequently Sora and Riku had asked. "I've told you before, I don't remember," she said.

"Nothing at all?" Sora asked with a frown.

"Nothing," Kairi confirmed.

Sora and I looked at each other for a second, and even I was still curious about her mysterious home island or where ever she came from. "You ever wanna go back?" Sora and I asked, and I flinched at how my mouth worked before my brain could process it.

"Well, I'm happy here," Kairi said with a shrug.

Again, Sora and I glanced at each other. "Really..." he mumbled turning back to her.

"But you know..." Kairi spoke up, catching our attention immediately, our eyes snapping to her form. "I wouldn't mind going to see it."

"We'd like to see it too," Sora and I chimed with matching grins.

Sora's grin grew wider at the thought of our impending departure from this isolated island. "Along with any other worlds out there! I want to see 'em all!" he added with a gleam of excitement in his bright blue eyes.

"Yeah, I can't wait to see everything," I agreed.

Kairi turned to us. "So what're we waiting for?" she asked with a smile.

"Hey, aren't you guys forgetting about me?"

All of us turned upon hearing that familiar sounding voice, and I couldn't help but notice how Kairi brightened up a bit when she saw Riku standing before us. Hmm... Riku was smirking, instantly making me relax at the sight, I thought he would be mad at our 'slacking off' as he would call it. Well, Riku never really got mad, but who knows working on a raft by yourself could get you a bit annoyed. I spotted the log that was under his arm, my eyes widening slightly at how easily he was able to walk with it.

"So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft." Riku walked towards us and as he walked past Sora he threw the log over to him, making Sora let out a shout and fall. "And you're just as lazy as they are," he said with a small smile directed at Kairi as he stopped in front of her, fists on his hips.

"Hey!" I whined, helping Sora.

Riku looked at me with a smirk. "Face it, you know you are," he said matter-of-factually.

"Oh, shut up," I mumbled, crossing my arms.

Kairi let out a giggle, tucking a stray hair behind her ear instantly bringing Riku's attention back to her. "So you noticed." She grinned at him, a bit of pink on her cheeks. "Okay, we'll finish it together. Akari and I will race you!" she said.

I smiled at her, knowing where this is going.

"Huh?" Sora asked.

Riku sat down next to Sora, lolling his head back to look at the red head. "What, are you kidding?" he asked as well.

"Look, they're scared that they'll loose to us," I said shaking my head, smirking.

Kairi giggled again. "Ready? Go!" she shouted.

Sora and Riku both quickly glanced at each other before they sprung to their feet, quickly running towards the usual 'finish line'. Kairi and I laughed, running after them but considering they were really trying both of us were left a bit behind them, but we didn't care. We pushed our legs to run at a comfortable pace, and I couldn't help but feel a bit sad about how we won't be able to do this here on Destiny Islands in a few more days. We were going to be leaving, visiting new places that we won't have time to really goof off like we always do. However, my homesick feeling was brushed aside, and I focused on the now instead of the future, it would only make me feel worse anyway.

It wasn't long before the race ended and we were going back to work once again on the raft. Sora and I both loathed the work, but we kept quiet about because we were excited as well. Well, I don't think Sora really hated the work, but I didn't like it. I was lazy, leave me alone! However, I got through it without complaining, it was good exercise anyway, lifting and building was doing wonders for me. I was out of shape as much as anyone could get without gaining weight, and I'm surprised that it hasn't come to that. Anyway, I'm getting side tracked, Riku was working on the raft while Kairi was off at the shack, while Sora and I were walking and just talking about a random subject before a certain red head saw us walking towards her general direction.

"So, can you two gather the rest of the supplies now?" Kairi asked us once we we got close enough.

Sora and I turned to her, and I nodded, however Sora rose an eyebrow at her in confusion. "Huh? What supplies?" he asked, cocking his head to the side, making Kairi and I roll our eyes together, smiling.

"Geez." Kairi laughed. "We can't build a raft without materials, right?"

I couldn't help but laugh as well, playfully pushing him. "I can't believe you forgot about it already," I said, laughing a bit more when Sora stuck his tongue out at me.

"All right, here's what we need: Two logs. One cloth. One rope," Kairi said, reciting what Riku had obviously told her before he went off to work on the raft, and I scrunched my nose up slightly at the two logs part. Logs were heavy. "Bring everything back here. If you guys need help, just ask. No more slacking, okay?" she asked the last part playfully to Sora.

Sora only pouted at the 'abuse'.

"Come on, Sora, we got work to do," I said tugging him with me.

Kairi laughed slightly as she watched us leave before she waved her hand in the air. "See you later! And Sora, don't make Akari do all the work, okay?" she asked the last part teasingly, and I turned back to her with a smirk.

"I'll make sure he won't!" I called back, waving as well.

"Hey!" Sora feigned anger. "I don't have to stand for this abuse, you know!"

I dropped his arm and turned to him with an innocent smile on my lips. "But you will anyway because Kairi and I are just too cute to be yelled at," I said clasping my hands behind my back and rocking on my heels just to add to the affect, and Sora stared at me blankly before rolling his eyes, a smirk of his own on his lips.

"Sure, whatever you say, Akari," he said walking ahead of me with his arms behind his head.

I pouted, copying his earlier expression before I caught up with him. When I was walking in step with him I stuck my tongue out childishly, but when he laughed I couldn't help but join in.

"So," I called, calming myself down a few moments later and turning to the brunette. "You wanna go and find the rope and cloth before the logs?"

Sora pursed his lips slightly in thought, but nodded shortly after. "Yeah, I don't wanna run around the island after carrying one of those things," he said with a look of distaste at the thought of those logs, and I couldn't help but agree. I would have to pull my own weight so I would be dragging a log as well. Cool.

I sighed at the thought as well, but couldn't help but agree. "All right, then lets go find the cloth."

We headed around one of the buildings and across from us on the white sand was a large log that we would be needing shortly. I sent it a disdainful looking, my arms aching just at the thought of them having to heave one of those heavy things back to Kairi. Burn you log, burn... I broke eye contact with the log and glanced at Sora to see him staring down at the log blankly as we passed it, obviously not looking forward to the hard labor that we would be forced to endure. I couldn't help but think that Riku was punishing Sora and I for being lazy, its not our fault that we like to enjoy the sun and the beach more than he does. Meany...

"Hey, Akari," Sora called.

I blinked, looking up at the taller boy. "Huh?"

"Wasn't there a cloth in the tree house over there?" he asked, pointing to a dark wooden 'house' not that far away from me, it connected to the deck that was currently holding Tidus and Wakka, the former swinging his wooden sword around.

"No clue," I replied with a shrug, but smiled. "Lets look anyway."

Sora nodded, leisurely walking beside me as we stepped up a wooden board leaning against one of the raised parts of the ground, our footsteps clacking on the wood below us before we stepped onto the stone walkway that lead to another raised part of the ground. Turning up the slightly curved path we came to a small wooden staircase build into the sand and walked up, coming face to face with more wooden paths and stairs. I stared at the slim path rather blankly, wishing that this could be easier. Yes, I know, I'm very lazy, leave me alone! However, I stopped my pouting when Sora and I stopped at the ladder that lead to the platform before the tree house's opening.

"I'll go up," I volunteered, grabbing both sides of the ladder and stepping on of the steps. However, I let out a squeak when it shifted a bit and clung to it like a lizard, my eyes wide.

Sora let out a laugh below me, and I glared down at him slightly. "Don't worry, Akari, I got you," he said with a reassuring smile on his lips, grabbing the sides of the ladder, making the small shakes stop almost instantly.

"U-uh," I mumbled, turning my head to hide my blush. "T-thanks."

I quickly climbed up the latter and crawled onto the platform, mentally cursing myself for hating heights. No matter how small. I let out a sigh and took a deep breath before standing up, heading into the small tree house to see a rather large piece of cloth hanging on the wall. Taking out the nails I placed them back into the wall once I folded the cloth into a nice square. Walking out onto the platform I looked over it and smiled down at Sora, holding the cloth above my head.

"One down!" I said with a wide grin on my lips.

Sora copied my expression, his beautiful blue eyes brightening. "Hey, that wasn't so hard."

"I know, right?" I turned around and climbed down the ladder, my feet connecting with the wood a few seconds later. "Lets hope that the rest are this easy," I said to Sora as he took his hands away from the rungs.

"Now we're looking for the rope, right?" Sora asked, cocking his head to the side.

I nodded and thus began the very long search for a single piece of rope. We looked practically everywhere on the island, and we were about to give up until we went to see Tidus and Wakka. We were going to ask them were one was, but stopped when we saw the darn thing laying in a pile at the other end of the deck that the two boys were on. I had to stop and taking a deep breath or I would have slammed my head against the wooden railing from annoyance, having run around for twenty stupid minutes looking for something that was in plain sight. I really hate getting materials. I really do. However, I sucked it up and watched as Sora pocketed the rope in his rather large pockets on his equally large red pants.

"I think I jinxed us," I said when Sora came to my side, a blank look on my face once again.

Sora laughed at my expression, and I sent him a look which he ignored. "You always did have horrible luck, so I'm not surprised," he said teasingly, a smirk on his lips in obvious payback for the way Kairi and I treated him earlier.

I crossed my arms, pouting once again. "Its not my fault the universe hates me," I mumbled sadly.

"The universe?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"Yes!" I threw my hands up dramatically. "The universe just loves to mess with me! First it was us having to find all these materials, then it was me almost falling off the ladder and now we wasted twenty minutes looking for some stupid rope! Its a conspiracy!" I said, waving my hands around for added affect.

Sora, who had been patiently waiting for my rant to end, gently tugged on my side ponytail, immediately calming me down. "Don't worry, I'll make sure that the universe is nice to you from now on," he teased.

"Why do you always do that?" I asked, ignoring his tone, fixing my side ponytail in 'annoyance'.

"It calms you down," he said with a shrug, grinning.

"It does not!" I sent him another look, but quickly stepped away from the brunette when his hand reached to grab my hair once again, and my hands went to it protectively. "Don't do it now!" I said with blush of embarrassment on my cheeks.

Sora laughed, and I stuck my tongue out at him. "Come on, we have to get those logs," he said, motioning me to follow him.

"Ugh..." I groaned, but following him anyway.

"Hey, Sora!" Tidus suddenly called, making Sora and I stop to look at the dirty blonde haired boy. "Feelin' up to a little competition?" he asked, showing his wooden sword to the brunette.

Sora smirked good naturedly at that, putting his hands behind his head. "Is that a challenge?" he asked.

"It just might be," Tidus said, mimicking his expression.

"You won't mind waiting for a little bit, right Akari?" Sora asked as he looked down at me.

I shook my head, grateful for the distraction. "Are you kidding me? We get a break!" I quickly motioned the boys to follow me as I climbed down the ladder and ran onto the beach that sat before the deck. "I'll be the referee, all right?" I asked as I watched the two follow my example.

"Okay!" Tidus and Sora called.

I grinned, remembering the many times that I was a referee when it was Sora against Riku. Most of those matches were very close, sometimes Riku winning and the others being Sora. Those two were so evenly matched that Kairi and I never knew who would win. However, do to all the matches that Sora had against Riku it was obvious that he was going to win against Tidus. Tidus could hold his own well enough, but he hadn't been practicing for that long like Sora and Riku, so it wasn't that hard to figure out. I stopped my thinking and stood between the two when they got into their positions, their hands clutching the wooden swords' handles. I looked between the two as they got into their stances, slightly hunched over, their eyes calculating as they thought of plans to attack the other first.

"All right you two, the first one to be knocked down is the loser, okay?" I asked, and when they both gave me a nod of confirmation I took a few steps back to get out of their way, and held my hand up. "3! 2! 1! Go!" I shouted, throwing my hand down.

Tidus let out a cry as he lunged forward, raising his wooden sword above his head and slammed it down towards Sora. I quickly watched Sora's form as he side stepped the attack easily, slashing at Tidus' exposed side. Tidus let out a grunt, stumbling at the force that was put into that attack, but was able to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground. Sora lunged forward this time with another swipe, this time Tidus barely having enough time to avoid it, his eyes narrowing as he mentally berated himself for stumbling feet. I blinked in slight surprise as Sora's earlier attack was a solid hit, and I crossed my arms, leaning a little on my right leg as I watched the match with renewed interest. Tidus was actually going to make a pretty good sparring partner for Sora.

"That was pretty good," Tidus complemented, still looking slightly startled by the quick attack.

Sora nodded in appreciation. "Thanks," he said with a grin.

"I guess I should start getting serious about this, huh?" the dirty blond haired boy asked a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in slight embarrassment.

"Ready when you are," Sora challenged in good fun.

Tidus smirked at that, and went back into his original fighting stance. However, Sora was the one that attacked first, his feet carrying him expertly across the sand and towards his opponent, his sword by his side instead of in the air. He brought his sword in an angled slashing motion towards the blond, but said boy brought his sword towards the formers at an equal speed, both wooden weapons slamming against one another and letting off a loud clack. Both stumbled half an inch at the force each put into the attacks, but quickly steadied themselves before lunging at each other once again.

There were so many swings, dodges, hits and sounds of the swords hitting against each other that I had lost track long ago. The match was going on longer than I had thought and I was now sitting the on ground, my eyes watching the match with anticipation and excitement, silently cheering Sora on. He had gotten hit a few times when Tidus picked up the pace and brought some good attacks when Sora wasn't paying close attention to his sides or his gut, and I could tell there were going to be bruises forming on those two. However, boys never really cared if they got hurt, in fact they wanted to get hurt for reasons unknown to me. I hated being hurt. I shrugged it off though, knowing that I would never really understand boys. Especially when it came to fighting, but I would admit that I understood how fun it was to watches sparring matches. Like the one right now, it was down right intense, having gone over ten minutes by what I was estimating.

After what seemed like forever Sora let out a cry and brought one more attack into Tidus' gut, sending the blond haired boy stumbling back onto the ground, a puff of sand erupting all around him from the force of the fall. I was immediately up when I saw him falling, the match finally over with Sora as the victor. Like I knew would happen.

"And the match goes to Sora!" I announced, raising my hand above my head.

Tidus let out a groan, rubbing the back of his head. However, he stopped when he saw Sora before him with his hand outstretched. "Thanks," the blonde said with a grin, taking the older boys hand.

"No problem, it was fun," Sora said, easily giving a grin back.

When the blond was back on his feet he asked, "Looks like I still gotta practice some more, huh?"

"Are you kidding me?" I asked with a blink of surprise, my mouth open in shock which made the two boys look at me when I stood next to them. "No-one other than Riku has been able to keep up with Sora like that, I think you're awesome Tidus!"

Tidus rubbed his head, grinning sheepishly in embarrassment. "Thanks Akari." I just smiled in return, and Tidus gave Sora and I a wave. "See you guys later, and Sora we're gonna have a rematch real soon, count on it!" he said with a smirk appearing, and I had to shake my head at that. He was already gonna practice for the next match between him and Sora. Too bad he'll have to wait for who knows how long. We were leaving in a few days.

"You got it!" the brunette said, him and I waving back.

We began walking back towards the other side of the island where the first log was, and I looked at the boy next to me. "So, did you have fun?" I asked, raising an eyebrow playfully.

"Yeah." Sora smiled, but it waned slightly. "But..."

My eyes blinked in surprise, seeing the older boy stop and stare out into the ocean as the sun was starting to go down, casting the horizon into an array of colors. Blue fading to purple, purple to red, red to pink; yellow to orange and so on and so forth. I frowned, seeing a rare expression on the normally cheerful brunette. Hesitancy. He was always ready to go into whatever he had his mind on and never thought about it, he just did it. But what was he thinking so hard about that he was reluctant to go through with it? I slowly approached him and stood by his side, leaning out to look at his face. His ocean blue eyes were staring at the setting sun and a frown was on his lips now.

"Sora?" I asked cocking my head to the side, frowning in concern. "You all right?"

He didn't look at me. "We'll be leaving soon."

Understanding instantly appeared on my face and I frowned as well, looking out at the familiar ocean that has been here our whole lives. We would be leaving in a few days, maybe even shorter than that at the pace that we were going now. I bit my lip at the thought, hesitant as well to travel who knows how far away from our home, away from our families and friends. It was...a scary feeling when you actually think about it. However, it was also thrilling. We would be going to see new worlds, new places. We'll be experiencing new cultures that we didn't even know existed, and we'll have freedom that we have never experienced before either. No parents there to tell us what to do, or to stay close. It would just be Sora, Riku, Kairi and I on distant lands with new people and new scenery. It was scary, but who could deny the call of adventure?

"Yeah, very soon," I agreed, excitement and fear raging through my body despite how calm I was outside.

Sora finally turned to me, a lopsided grin appearing on his lips. "Its kind of frightening, huh? But...well...its...I don't really know how to explain it," he said a bit sheepishly, chuckling at how unprepared he was at trying to explain his feelings.

"Its exciting?" I helped, smiling.

"That's it!" Sora smiled at me in thanks. "Its exciting, but I'll miss home," he said, his smile fading slightly.

"I think we all will," I stated, looking around at the beach that was now bathing in the golden light of the setting sun, remembering when we all started discussing our plan to build a raft and go out to sea. "Man. It seems like we started doing this so long ago, doesn't it?" I turned back to the brunette, shaking my head with a small smile.

"And then again it feels like yesterday," he agreed with a nod.

I clasped my hands behind my back, rocking back and forth on my heels. "We'll have fun though, and with our luck we'll be back before we even know it," I said with a laugh.

Sora glanced down at me. "You mean you're luck?" he asked me teasingly once again.

"Shut up," I pouted, smacking his arm lightly.

With a laugh from him, Sora motioned me to follow. "Its starting to get late, I think we should get the logs back over to Kairi," he said, his cheerful demeanor back now that he was able to let out his thoughts, and I followed after him like a puppy.

"But I don't wanna," I whined, slouching in despair.

"And you and Kairi called me lazy," Sora mocked playfully, snickering at me when he looked over his shoulder to see my pitiful form.

"Hey." I sent him a look, crossing my arms over my chest. "I'm a weak little girl who can't even do a push up, so how in the world am I going to lift a log, let alone drag it?" I asked him, just challenging him to come back with comeback. It was true, I couldn't do a push up properly because I have no upper body strength what-so-ever. Yeah, this was going to be so fun. Hurray.

Sora reached over and ruffled my hair, ignoring my squeal of anger and my glare as I tried to fix it. "You're not weak, Akari, but don't worry I'll help you deal with the big, mean log, all right?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes at him, pushing him playfully before walking ahead of him, ignoring his whine for me to wait up. A few minutes later Sora and I were pushing the log over to where Kairi was waiting, and told her we would be back with the other log that we had seen on the circular island that was attached to the main one we were on. When we got there we saw a familiar silver haired fifteen year old boy on the famous curved palm tree that occupied the smaller island.

"You know, Riku," I started with a fake glare, walking over to him with my hands on my hips and a pout on my lips. "You could have taken the log over to Kairi considering you've been doing nothing all day."

Sea-foam green eyes flashed to my dark honey orbs. "Where is the fun in that? I would miss seeing you two pulling your weight around here for once," he mocked jokingly, making Sora and I cross our arms over our chest as we feigned annoyance at how we were always dubbed the laziest ones of the group.

"That's not fair, Riku," Sora mumbled, looking off to the side.

"Never said I was," Riku retorted with a smirk.

I snorted, hiding my own smirk from appearing on my face. "Not like we're surprised," I grumbled, but I knew he was gonna hear me, I wanted him to.

Sora snickered.

Riku glanced at me blankly from his spot on the palm tree. "What was that, Akari?" he asked.

"Nothing!" I said, grinning sweetly.

"Sure," he said rolling his eyes in amusement.

With our distraction done with Sora and I grabbed the log that sat a few feet away from Riku's tree, grabbing the log and lifting with our legs, the weight making me let out a squeak. Sora noticed my plight and grabbed more of the log to get more of the weight and he gave me directions as we crossed the bridge that hovered above the water. It took us a few minutes but we made it to Kairi who looked positively bored out of her mind, but immediately brightened when she saw Sora and I bring the last of the materials for the day. We dropped the log on the ground once our feet were out of the way and we rubbed our arms, our muscles aching at the use. Especially mine since they never get used.

"That was horrible," I moaned, massaging my shoulder.

Sora nodded in agreement, making a face at the small pains in his arm. "I think Riku's sadistic," he mumbled.

I smirked slightly at that. "Agreed."

"Thanks, you two!" Kairi grinned as she walked over to us once she placed the materials near the shed, instantly making the red head gain our attention. "Its getting late so we'll finish

up tomorrow, okay?" she asked as she turned back to us, Sora and I sighing in relief.

"Thank god," I grumbled.

"You can say that again," Sora replied in the same tone.

Kairi giggled at our expressions before pushing us towards the small island we had just been on minutes before, but we didn't protest and began to walk on our own towards the spot we always went to before we took the boats back to the main island that sat to our lefts. Riku was leaning against the tree now, his arms crossed over his black and yellow clad chest. It wasn't long before we were all situated in our usual spots on the curved palm tree. Kairi sat on the tree next to Riku while I sat on her right, and Sora was laying down on mine, his arms behind his head to act like a cushion to guard his spiky head against the hard bark of the tree. The sky was beginning to darken, but there was still some light left for us to use before we would head back home.

I leaned back slightly and breathed in the salty air, listening to the waves crash against the island below us. It was so peaceful around this time, most the of the kids inside eating their meals or going to bed depending on their age, leaving the islands to be completely silent except for nature's noises. It was going to be strange for us when we go out on the raft and we're drifting over the ocean, as there would definitely be a lot of rocking thanks to the waves that would pass below and around us. It was going to take a while to get use to it, but we were going to have all the time in the world once we left. The same excited and scared feeling began to course through me as I looked at the ocean before us. We were really going to be leaving shortly. It didn't seem real despite how we were closing in on the day and we were getting the last things together before we set sail.

"So," Sora suddenly began, sitting upright. "Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?"

"Could be." All of us turned to Riku's voice as he kept his gaze on the ocean, a thoughtful look on his face. "We'll never know by staying here," he answered after a second, not meeting the curious gazes that were being sent to him by Sora and I.

Sora leaned forward to get a better look at him. "But how far could a raft take us?" he asked once again, his eyebrow raised towards the other boy.

"Huh, never really thought about that," I mumbled. Crap.

"Who knows?" Riku asked with a shrug.

I sent him a blank look, now slightly nervous about getting on the wooden structure that we were still building. "Well, gee that really makes me feel safe, Riku," I said sarcastically with a roll of my eyes.

Riku glanced at me, smirking at my attitude. "If we have to, we'll think of something else," he stated.

Sora and I shared blank glances with each other. That was helpful.

"So, suppose you get to another world," Kairi said with a slight giggle as she looked down at Riku, a curious expression on her face. "What would you do there?"

Riku looked down at the sudden question and let out a hum, letting the rest of us know that that had never crossed his mind before. "Well, I haven't really thought about it. It's just...I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds..." The silver haired boy trailed off for a moment, collecting his thoughts while the rest of us waited patiently for him to continue. "Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?" he asked us.

"I don't know," Sora answered instantly, going back to his regular position.

"Exactly," Riku agreed.

I rolled my eyes at that but smirked at Sora's nonchalant attitude about this mystery. "You have a point, but I'm glad we all were brought here or we wouldn't know one another. We're pretty lucky," I stated with a small smile, inwardly wincing at how easily it would have been for me to not know any of my friends because of one small thing that could have happened in the past.

"Yeah, you all could have been born on different worlds and I wouldn't have had you guys to come here to," Kairi said with a nod of agreement.

A shiver of excitement coursed through my body, and I bit my lip to keep from smiling like an idiot, but Sora was giving me a look so I knew I messed that up. "Man, talking about it really makes me want to find out how many worlds really are out there," I said, bouncing slightly.

"That's why we need to go out there and find out," Riku said as he brought his arms down, walking towards the edge of the island. "Just sitting here won't change a thing. Its the same old stuff. So lets go."

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Kairi asked after a short silence.

Riku turned to her, a small smile on his lips. "Thanks to you." Sora and I shared knowing glances, smirking at one another before turning back to the two. "If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this. Kairi, thanks," he said, his tone grateful and sincere, and I looked over at Kairi to see her reaction.

The little red head looked down slightly, a tint of pink on her cheeks. "You're welcome," she said with a small laugh, but it seemed forced. Probably embarrassed.

It was silent for a moment, all of us lost in our own minds which probably involved the raft and the adventure we were going to go on very soon. New things were going to be experienced, and it was all slightly overwhelming. However, I shook that thought of my head and just thought about making the last of our days on this island count before we left it for who knows how long. But my thoughts on that were cut short as the sun sank lower and lower in the distance, and everything was now covered in a dim red light, signaling that it was time for us to start heading home before it got too dark for us to see. I let out a silent sigh at that, but sucked it up as I made myself move from my comfortable spot.

"Come on guys, its starting to get late," I said as I jumped down from the tree, turning to everyone with a smile. "We're gonna need all the light we can get, you know."

Kairi nodded and followed my example. "Yeah, we gotta get up early tomorrow too," she agreed.

Riku just nodded.

Sora, however, winced at the last part. He wasn't looking forward to that.

~*~*~*No-One's POV~*~*~

Sora let out a yawn as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head as he watched Akari and Kairi walking towards the bridge, talking about whatever girls did as it obviously wasn't about the raft anymore. Hopping down from his comfortable spot on the palm tree, Sora stretched and began walking after them, not bothering to wonder what was keeping Riku. Said boy, however, was busy climbing up one of the trees, his eyes on a certain item that hung from the branches. The silver haired boy turned his attention to the brunette's retreating back, a smirk placing itself on his lips. Reaching his hand out Riku grabbed a smooth object and jumped down, his feet connecting with the soft sand below.

"Sora," he called.

At the sound of his name Sora turned around and barely had enough time to catch something yellow being thrown at him, making him stumble back slightly in surprise. He turned to look down, his eyes narrowing in confusion before he took in the familiar sight of a Paopu fruit cupped in his hands. The little fruit was in the shape of a star with a little leafy stem sticking out of the top point. Ocean blue eyes narrowed in confusion at why the older boy before him gave it to him, but apparently his expression was all that Riku needed.

"You wanted one, didn't you?" he asked, a smirk on his lips.

"A Paopu fruit..." Sora mumbled.

Riku began to walk past him, his smirk still ever present. "If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what." A laugh escaped his lips as he looked over his shoulder at Sora's confused face. "C'mon, I know you want to try it," he said.

Sora gave his best friend a startled look. "What are you talking-"

"Come on, you two!" Akari's voice shouted from below them, causing Sora jumped out of his thoughts. "Man, you guys are really slow," she said with smirk, looking up at the brunette who hadn't moved.

A blush suddenly came to the brunette's cheeks and he quickly glanced at fruit in his hands while he tried to ignore Riku's laughter in the background. Sending an apologetic smile down at Akari, who rolled her eyes with a laugh, before tossing the yellow fruit into the ocean. He looked forward to yell at Riku but when he saw the silver haired boy already on the sand and running after the girls Sora let out a small huff before he ran after them.

~*~*~*No-One's POV; Next Day*~*~*~

"Hey, Sora."

Sora turned when he heard his name being called, once again, and turned to see Riku walking up the stone steps to meet him. Sora, Riku, Akari and Kairi were on the other side of the small island where the raft was located, this part of the island only accessible by the shed that Kairi stood in front of earlier yesterday. The girls were on a higher part of the island that was a few yards away and quite a few yards up leaving them mostly out of hearing range, but the boys were sometimes able to hear giggles escaping from the girls' lips as they talked about who knows what once again. It was about noon and the raft was finished, the four teenagers lazy around for a few for a much needed break after they put the two logs that Akari and Sora got yesterday to good use.

"Yeah?" the brunette asked.

"Our raft still needs a name. Let's see..." Riku looked up in thought for a moment before his sea-foam green eyes snapped to Sora's ocean blue orbs. "How about Highwind?" he suggested.

Sora hesitated slightly. "Eh..." he mumbled.

Riku rose an eyebrow at that, crossing his arms. "What would you call it?" he asked.

"Me?" Sora blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, if you think you've got a better name," the older boy challenged jokingly, and Sora rolled his eyes at him with a smile on his lips.

The brunette then narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms as he looked down at the stone steps beneath his yellow clad feet. "Well...hmm..." His eyes suddenly brightened and he looked up grinning. "Excalibur!"

Riku gave the same kind of face that Sora made a few moments ago and Sora instantly knew where this was going. Whenever they didn't agree on something it would always go to a race, it was a lot better than fighting it out like they use to. The boys really needed to thank Akari and Kairi for their idea or they would always be covered in some kind of bruises. Yeah, Sora and Riku always rough-housed but it never got serious, the two were practically brothers so the girls never really worried about them attacking one another. However, they still didn't want to nurse their wounds every time they got into a disagreement.

"You guys at it again?" Kairi's voice suddenly asked in exasperation, making the boys look up at her.

"Looks like it," Akari stated blankly.

It was obvious that they overheard the discussion.

"Boys." Kairi rolled her eyes before she looked down at them. "All right, we'll be the judges. The usual rules apply: Take any route you want," she gestured towards the platforms and rock like steps that formed as if for this specific occasion.

"First one to tag the star shaped tree and make it back here wins," Akari finished.

Sora turned to Riku, already knowing this. "If I win, I'm captain! And if you win..." he trailed off.

"I get to share the Paopu with one of the girls," Riku said almost immediately, hiding the smirk that threatened to fall on his lips. He just loved to mess with Sora.

Of course Riku wasn't going to do it, however, if it had been to share a Paopu with Kairi and if he was really being serious than he would be all for it. But he wanted to poke fun at the younger boy's little crush on a certain blonde that stood not that far away from them. Riku glanced out of the corner of his eye, and was proud of himself when he saw the shocked look that covered Sora's face. The brunette obviously remembered Riku's words about the Paopu fruit from yesterday, which only made Sora's face even more priceless to the older boy.

"Huh?" Sora asked, wide eyed.

"Deal?" the silver haired boy asked back. "The winner gets to share a Paopu with one of the girls."

Sora blushed once again, his eyes unconsciously going to dark honey orbs before turning back to his best friend. "Wha... Wait a minute..." he trailed off, having a hard time figuring out of if he was serious or not.

However, that made Sora even more nervous about the deal that he didn't even approve of. If Riku was being serious than he would have to share a Paopu with one of the girls. But would he really want to? He blushed harder at the obvious answer that immediately shouted at him in his head. Yes he would, but...but what if she didn't? Or...what if Riku was just doing this to throw him off guard before the race? Sora scrunched his nose up as a dull ache began to form on his forehead. He was thinking way too hard about this, and he shot his best friend an annoyed look. Gah, Riku! Look what he was doing to him! He was really lucky Sora was a nice guy!

"Guys!" at Akari's voice Sora instantly snapped his attention to her. "Focus!"

"Okay," Kairi spoke up not a second after the blonde, holding up her hand. "On our count:"

"3!" Akari shouted.

The boys got into a runners stance.

"2!" Kairi continued.

Sora and Riku narrowed their eyes, glancing at each other slightly.

"1!"

At that number Sora looked ahead and swallowed thickly as Riku's earlier words echoed in his head. If Riku was serious then he was gonna have to win, since the silver haired boy didn't specify who he wanted to share the Paopu with. Sora wasn't going to let Riku share it with her...

"Go!" the girls shouted together, and Kairi threw her hand down to signal the start of the race.

~*~*~Your POV*~*~*~

As the boys raced off Kairi and I rolled our eyes at how competitive those two were with one another. It made me wonder what they were betting on now besides the naming of the raft, but I shrugged it off. It wasn't really important anyway. Their forms jumped over the broken bridges before they disappeared out of sight, leaving Kairi and I alone to talk once more. We weren't talking about anything really important, however I've been noticing Kairi looking off into space most of the time, a frown appearing on her face. It was rather concerning, her behavior starting to worry me. She usually spoke up about her feelings to me, and I've done the same to her. We were practically sisters, having the same relationship that the boys have. Finally, when she looked off into space and was drowning in her thoughts for the last time, I tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"Hey, Kairi," I spoke up softly, instantly gaining her attention. "Are you okay?"

Kairi snapped herself out of her zoned state and forced a smile on her lips when she regarded me. "Yeah, I'm all right, Akari, I"m just a little out of it today," she said with a shrug,

inwardly hoping that I would drop it. Pff. Nope.

"Kairi," I warned, my eyes narrowing.

"R-really, I'm all right," she said, glancing off to the side with a small frown.

I followed her gaze and my eyes immediately found themselves on the raft. A frown came to my lips as realization dawned on me. "You're nervous about leaving, aren't you, Kairi?" I asked, and she looked at me.

"No! I'm...I-" Kairi stopped, however, when she saw my unconvinced expression and let out a sigh. "...Is it that obvious?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Only to me, not the boys obviously."

"Good," she mumbled in relief.

"Whats wrong?" I asked, cocking my head to the side with concern. "You know you can tell me."

Kairi bit her lip as she tried to think of a good way to say it, but instantly gave up on that and turned to me to wing it. "I do want to go with you guys, I really do. But, I guess I just don't see why you guys are so adamant about going to find my home. I mean, I'm perfectly happy here, and I do want to see it but it just seems so sudden, you know? Like...like, why do we have to go now? Is life here on the islands so bad? This place is already my home and I'm going to miss it, so..." She sighed once again, frowning even more. "I...I just don't know..." she mumbled, shaking her head.

"Hey," I said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'll tell you something right now, I'm scared about going out there too. I mean we're leaving everything behind. But you got Sora, Riku and I with you, its not like you're going alone, right?"

"You're scared, too?" she asked, blinking in shock.

"Why are you surprised?" I rose an eyebrow at her. "Of course I'm scared! I'm not like Riku or anything."

When I mentioned the silver haired boy Kairi frowned again, rubbing her arm. "Riku was another reason why I didn't want to say anything," she admitted in a mumble.

I narrowed my eyes. "Huh?"

"Riku..." Kairi started, and I waited for her to continue. "Well, he really wants to go, and you heard how grateful he was that all of this was happening because of me, I just didn't want him to find out that I wasn't really sure I if I wanted to go. I...didn't want to disappoint him."

"Oh," I mumbled, nodding.

"I'm being selfish, aren't I?" she asked, biting her lip nervously.

Again I rose an eyebrow at her, staring at the younger girl blankly as I lightly hit her upside the head. "Kairi, I never thought I'd say this to you, but you're an idiot," I said rather bluntly.

"Hey!" The red head glared, fixing her hair.

"What?" I grinned at her innocently. "I'm being honest. You're not being selfish so don't worry, okay?"

"You sure?" Kairi asked, looking rather skeptical.

I rolled my eyes at her, laughing slightly at the expression that was on her face. She was really worried. It was surprising though, Kairi was more bold and more cheerful than this, it was kind of strange to see her looking so unsure. However, I gave her a friendly hug, reassuring her that she was fine.

"I'm sure, now stop it," I said pulling back and giving her a mock look of annoyance, my hands on my hips daring her to continue her little worry session.

Kairi couldn't help giggle at my 'serious' expression. "Thanks, Akari," she said smiling sweetly.

"Eh," I said waving away her thanks. "Don't mention it."

Kairi playfully pushed me for that, and we broke down into another fit of giggles, mine more relieved to see that she was fine now. I smiled a little wider knowing that I made her feel better. At that thought I couldn't help but shaking my head slightly at how these past couple of days have been. Geez, I'm like a psychiatrist or something, in two days I've helped Sora and Kairi with their little problem about going out to sea. However, I shook that thought out of my head when I heard two sets of footsteps racing towards us and Kairi and I quickly looked over to see Sora and Riku finally back. Sora was in the lead by a few inches, but Riku was catching up. However, when they were getting closer towards the finish line Sora suddenly picked up the speed and dashed past it before Riku could.

However, apparently he went a little too fast for him to handle, and he tripped when he tried to stop himself, leading him to face plant. Riku, Kairi and I all winced at the sight, and I was instantly going towards him to see if he was all right. He was going pretty fast back there. Kneeling down next to the toppled over brunette I shook his shoulder slightly, leaning forward to get a look at his face as he began to lift himself up.

"You all right there, Sora?" I asked, a giggle slipping past my lips before I could stop it.

Sora flashed me a grin, not the least bit embarrassed by the less than graceful landing that he did. "Yeah, went a little too fast back there, huh?" he asked back, and I shook my head at him with a good natured roll of my eyes.

I looked back over at the other two, flashing a thumbs up. "He's all right!"

Kairi and Riku only rolled their eyes, smirking.

"Well, Sora you won the race!" I gave the brunette a bright smile, grabbing his hand and helping him up from the ground before I gave him a curious look. "What else did you guys bet for anyway?" I asked.

Sora froze, before he quickly retracting his hand from mine.

I narrowed my eyes in confusion. *Um...?*

"I-...well you see- um...Riku he... I-I-," Sora stuttered horribly, slightly flustered.

I blinked in surprise at the sudden reaction, and I cocked my head to the side as I looked up at him. "You all right there, Sora? You didn't hurt yourself, right?" I asked reaching my hand to turn him around and check for an scrapes that he could have gotten.

However, Sora pulled away from my hand and rubbed the back of his head. "No! I'm okay!" he said with a force laugh, and I rose an eyebrow at that and slowly brought my hand back to my side.

"O...kay then," I mumbled.

The sound of a familiar chuckle met our ears and Sora and I turned to see Riku coming towards us, and he grabbing Sora by the shoulder. A large smirk was on his lips and I looked at Kairi who shrugged, just as confused. "Don't worry, Sora, I was just kidding about that," he said vaguely, but Sora's eyes widened telling me that he understood that message.

"What?" I asked.

Riku shook his head, but when he saw the glare in Sora's eyes he quickly ran away before I could even begin to ask again.

"Riku!" Sora shouted with a growl, chasing after the older boy.

Kairi and I were left there, confusion easily felt in the air around us. We both glanced at each other to see if one of us knew what had just happened, but we gave a simultaneous shrug of our shoulders. I shook my head with a small laugh.

Boys were really strange.

* * *

**Sorry that it was a bit boring, but I wanted to show the relationship that they all have together before putting the plot in. And no this story does not have Akari and Sora getting together, this builds up to that relationship growing stronger in the sequel. Just a heads up.**

**Also, if you haven't guessed I'm going to make Kairi and Riku an item too :P So yeah, Riku-X-Kairi in the sequel too. XD**

**Akari's picture is in my profile, just follow the link! **

**Review if you want, but if its criticism then please be nice about it, I'm kind of nervous about posting this. Hehe...**

**See you later! Bye!**


	2. Nightmare

~*~*~*Story Start*~*~*~

It had been a few minutes since the boys raced off, and Kairi and I decided to get back to work if we wanted to leave the following day. Yes, we were leaving the next day. The full force of it didn't hit me yet, but it was slowly growing more and more unbelievable as time went on. I mean, come on who wouldn't feel this way if they were leaving their home so suddenly? The news about us leaving was sudden too, Riku telling the rest of us when we finished the raft earlier today. We just needed to get the last minute things, check everything, then get a good nights sleep before we left the next day to go on our adventure.

Kairi and I walked along the beach towards the raft, the soft sand slipping underneath our shoes and the waves smoothly slipping onto the shore before pulling away. I breathed in the salt and the smell of the sand that mixed into the air, it giving me a comforting and safe feeling. I let myself stop for a moment when Kairi and I reached the raft, the red head grabbing a clipboard that held only one piece of paper on it and began to check the materials that we needed to get today. I let myself close my eyes and just listen and smell the familiar sounds and scents that Destiny Islands brought. The many palm trees that were nestled above and around us rustled in the warm breeze, and I knew that I was going to miss them so much once we left. All we would hear for who knows how long was going to be the sea beneath us.

I slowly opened my dark honey orbs, my eyes taking in the exotic foliage. *I never noticed how beautiful everything was until now,* I thought to myself with a rueful smirk, a small essence of homesickness forming.

"Akari?"

My head snapped over to Kairi who was looking at me with a worried expression of her own, obviously seeing the sadness that was easily detectable in my gaze. I sent her a smile that wasn't forced, but wasn't entirely cheerful either. I wasn't going to pull her little evasion card, she would easily detect it so it was useless to try. We could never keep anything from each other. It was like we really were sisters that shared that special bond where the other always knew when their sibling was troubled or sad. I let out wistful sigh, my eyes trailing back over the tree tops and the purple and blue hued mountainous rocks that towered over the beach that we stood on. I was really going to miss everything...

Kairi let out a sigh of exasperation and walked over to me, tugging me over to where she left the clipboard. "You can admire the scenery later, we gotta get this stuff done," she said, ignoring my whines as I stumbled at her unusually strong pull.

"What am I looking for now?" I asked with a pout, stopping in front of the raft.

"Lets see..." Kairi grabbed the clipboard and looked down at the list. "You're looking for provisions today, and they're: One Seagull egg. Four mushrooms. Two coconuts. Four fish. And drinking water. You can use this to get the last one." Kairi picked up a glass bottle that sat near the sail and handed it to me. "Remember, not from the ocean, okay?" she asked with a smirk.

I stared at her in horror. "Are you kidding me?! That's twelve things!" I shouted.

"Baby." Kairi rolled her eyes at me, and I glared at her in return for that. "Fine! I'll give Sora the Seagull egg, and the two coconuts to get, that better?" she asked, laughing.

"Why those things?" I asked, blinking in confusion.

The red head grinned. "Well, since he left us I think making him climb trees is a good punishment."

"Good point," I said, grinning back.

Kairi then shooed me away with her hand, saying. "All right, now get going."

I rolled my eyes at her with a blank look on my face. "Geez, I'm going, Mom, stop being so pushy," I mumbled as I stuck my tongue out at her, but when Kairi gave me a scary look I let out a squeak of fear and ran towards the broken bridge that was located over the high pieces of land that sat in my way.

Ignoring Kairi's laughter from behind me I slowed my pace down to a walk, stretching my arms above my head as I prepared myself for another fun search. Finding the four fish and the drinking water was easy, but finding the four mushrooms was going to be hell. Sure, islands are known to house mushrooms, however, that didn't mean that all the mushrooms around here were edible. Deciding to get the easy tasks done first I walked beside the bridge, heading down the steps that lead to a smaller, sand filled area. The small beach that I stood on beneath the bridge was split by the water, and apposite me was another little beach area that stood below the area where the race had ended minutes before.

The race...

I pursed my lips as I went to the hole that poured out clean water to my right, and held the bottle beneath it 'til it filled to the top before I closed it. I turned towards the raised ground and lifted myself up and headed towards the shack, but came to a stop when I saw a familiar little brown fungus staring at me. With a smirk I picked it up, but my thoughts were quickly brought back to what had happened earlier.

What _had_ happened earlier, anyway? I never saw Sora so...flustered before, especially over a silly bet.

Also, what did Riku mean when he said "I was just kidding about that" anyway?

I frowned, my head cocking to the side as I narrowed my eyes in thought. I swear Sora and Riku were just betting on what they were going to call the raft, which by the way was called Excalibur thanks to Sora's 'spectacular' win, but apparently I was wrong.

I shrugged it off though, it really didn't matter, huh?

Nope.

I pushed the door to the shack open and stepped out into the sunlight, and headed towards the water, my feet submerging into the salty ocean, but I didn't mind. When you live on an island your whole life, things like this hardly bother you despite the blisters that you obviously get.

My eyes narrowed as they flickered across the reflective, shimmery blue water looking for any sign of dark shadows in the water or any sudden movements. I waded, slowly moving my feet outwards more, my shins now becoming wet as I went deeper and deeper. The warm water lapped past me, sometimes larger waves coming up and slightly pushing me off balance, but when I saw a little school of fish swimming innocently past me only a few feet to my right. Sticking my tongue out the corner of my mouth I concentrated as made sure my sneaking skills were up to par. I was not gonna get outsmarted by a fish. I may not be the smartest person, but I was definitely smarter than a stupid fish.

Getting close to my targets I let a feral grin spread across my lips as I crouched into an attack position, not caring for the bottoms of my shorts getting wet. There they were, little schools of silver fish swimming around me without a care in the world. I did feel bad about killing one of these poor little things, but it was going to be either the fish or us when it came to Sora, Riku, Kairi and I when we were sailing on this seemingly endless strip of water. I would rather eat the fish before I would ever let myself, or my friends of course, become a meal for any of these little creatures.

With my resolve ready I held my hands in a ready position, I waited for the perfect opportunity before a sudden flash of silver came towards my leg and I plunged down towards it. My fingers connected with the silky surface and two streams of water splashed into my face, but I ignored it as I felt the wiggling of a little fish body touch the tips of my fingers. Acting on reflex I quickly clamped down it and I was instantly grinning with awe when I still felt the wiggling creature moving around in my palms as I flew my hands into the air in front of my face. Oh, hell yeah! I just caught a fish on my first try! I have never been able to do that before. Those stupid fish always found a way to get away from me, but not anymore!

"Ha! First try!" I shouted in victory as I looked at the squirming fish in my hands, smirking at it. "I finally bested you, you slippery little-"

I, however, was cut off when said slippery fish managed to wiggle out of my grip, smacking me in the face with its oily body. I stumbled back in surprise but quickly caught it before it could fall back to its home. My right eye twitched as I glared at the gaping little aquatic animal, its gill flexing as it tried to breathe.

"Fine! Screw you too, fish!" I shouted, growling in annoyance.

Not thinking in the least, I pulled my arm back and chucked the darn thing with ever single ounce of strength that I had in my upper body. I only realized my mistake when the fish plunged into the water, swimming as quickly as it could away from my general direction. Oh crap... A few stunned moments went by as I stood in absolute horror at my actions, my mouth agape and my eyes just staring into space. I didn't even bother putting my arms down when they started to ache as all the blood started to rush down to my shoulders.

Oh. My. God.

Did I seriously just do that?

I threw my hands to my hair, ready to pull it out. "_CRAP_!"

* * *

After spending ten minutes getting my revenge on the fish population I finally got my four hostages and was heading back to the raft. There was NO way that I was going to walk around with four fish, a mushroom, and a bottle of water. I could barely even hold the darn things when I maneuvered them in my arms so I could open the shack doors. Not to mention how horrible it was to jump over the gaps in the bridge, almost dropping some of the fish back into their homes. Again. But it was safe to say when I made it over to Kairi I couldn't have shoved those six things into her arms fast enough.

"You're problem now," I said, stepping away from her before she could throw them back at me.

Kairi scrunched up her nose at the oily fish that rested against her. "Thanks, Akari, that was really appreciated," she said sarcastically, throwing me a look.

I grinned innocently. "No problem~!"

"You still have to get the three other mushrooms, you know." Looked around, finding a place for the provisions I gave to her, not particularly happy with holding them either. She turned back to me and smirked when she saw my deflated expression. "Did you honestly think I'd forget?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I would be lying if I said I didn't hope," I mumbled, pouting.

"Right." Kairi shook her head before a frown appeared on her lips. "Hey, while you're out looking can you find Sora? He hasn't come back yet," she stated, a little exasperated.

I rolled my eyes at the thought of the brunette. "I think he's just hiding from us now," I said with a sigh.

"He probably knows there's a punishment waiting," the red head laughed.

"We've trained him well," I joked.

Kairi laughed and I joined in before walking away, going to find the mushrooms before I looked for Sora. I think finding the fungus is going to be easier than finding him, he does have a knack for disappearing for hours on end without even the tiniest hint of where he is. Letting out a sigh, I began to search that part of the island for the little umbrella shaped items, looking behind rocks, pushing away ferns, looking under tiny cracks in boulders and the mountains and so on and so forth. I was just about to give up when I started to head towards the shack and go to the other side of the island when I saw a hole in the stone before me, a rather large rock guarding the entrance. Looking in the little cracks I saw two little mushrooms staring out at me. Mocking me.

I narrowed my eyes at them, leaning away as I put my hands on my hips. "You're in cahoots with the fish, aren't you?" I mumbled in a growl.

I swear nature was conspiring against me, somehow communicating with each other just to make my life harder. Not wishing to let nature have the satisfaction of seeing me frustrated over this little obstacle, I placed my hands onto the course, rough surface of the large rock and began to push with the strength that I had. Which, unfortunately, wasn't a lot. It also didn't help the fact that my feet couldn't get a good grip on the ground. Which was sand. How perfect? Not letting that little setback discourage me I tried desperately to push forward instead of push backwards. However, no such luck. I bit my lip to keep from shouting colorful words at the inanimate object and tried again, only for the same thing to keep on happening despite the different positions I placed my feet and hands in.

"Gah!" I growled out angrily, sending a swift kick at the rock. "No-one likes you, you stupid thing!"

I didn't care if that sounded immature, and idiotic since the thing didn't have feelings, but continued to try even though I knew it was a wasted effort. I would run towards it and shove all the weight that I had in my body into the stone, only for my feet to slide backwards again, almost making me lose my footing. Then I pressed my back against the rock, digging my feet further and further into the sand as I tried to make it move at least an inch. An inch would at least make me feel like this whole ordeal was going to end. But nooo! Nothing ever goes easily for me, does it? Apparently not!

Straightening up I took a deep breath as I closed my eyes, trying to clear my mind and this through rationally.

However, all thoughts of that went out the window when I opened my dark honey orbs and saw the rock sitting there innocently on the sand before me. Sitting there. Mocking me. It was smirking, I could feel it. The lines and cracks that covered the rock formed into sardonic face. Oh, how I hated this rock.

Letting out a shout I ran forward with my arms outstretched. When I felt the palms of my hands slam against the hard surface I pushed as hard as I could, not caring for how stupid I looked right now. This darn thing was going to bow before me! I would make it! However, my shouts of anger and superiority died away instantly when my feet were pushed out too far behind me and I lost my balance, face planting into the grains of sand beneath me. The hot little shreds of white rocks seemed to sink into my skin, but I just laid there and let myself slowly comprehend what happened.

When I did, I shook angrily. "I. Hate. My. Life!" I shouted, getting to my knees to glare at my offender.

All the rock did was sit there. Mockingly.

It didn't even move an inch.

Stupid, stupid rock!

"Um? Akari?" a familiar voice asked, amusement in their tone. "Do you need help?"

"NO!" I shouted, throwing the poor red head a glare. "I will _not_ be defeated by a rock! A fish already made me look like an idiot, and I will _not_ let this stupid thing do the same!"

Kairi narrowed her eyes. "A _fish_?"

I sent her a look. "I swear those things are evil! One _attacked_ me!"

At first the younger girl stared at me like I lost my mind, but when she saw that I wasn't kidding she instantly busted out into hysterical laughter. My face heated up from embarrassment, and my right eye began to twitch again with annoyance. However, unlike the fish that I had an unfortunate encounter with, I couldn't throw the red head into the ocean. Right now, as I stared at her now tear stained face, I couldn't help but wish that I could. Oh, how I wished that I could...

"Oh, shut up!" I growled, going back to my new target.

I got to my feet and headed towards one of the unused boards that sat near the raft, and picked up a strong, sturdy one that I knew would come in handy. Going back over to the rock with the board in my arms I kicked the sand out from under it before shoving the board in the newly made hole beneath the rock. Getting on my knees I grabbed the sides, thankful that I had on some black fingerless gloves my hands today. Splinters would have surely gone into my palms had I not had them. Pushing upwards I could feel the board start to crack with effort as I tried to tip the rock away from the entrance, finding no other way of doing it. Soon, I finally felt the rock tip away and the board snapped, leaving me to stumble forward in front of the newly opened hole, and I wiped the sweat from my brow.

I really hated getting provisions.

I quickly gathered up the two mushrooms that had eluded me until just now before I walked over to the red head who had been watching me with great interest. "Here, take these stupid things away from me before I crush them," I said pushing them into her hands.

"Why didn't you do that before?" Kairi asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Why didn't you help me?" I asked back, glaring.

The sweet younger girl just smirked at me in a way that made my eye twitch in repressed anger. "Because, watching you squirm and flail around trying to beat a rock was just too amusing an image to pass up," she stated simply and I couldn't help but shudder at how much she sounded like Riku in that moment. Scary.

"...I hate you," I seethed out but Kairi only laughed, knowing I didn't mean it in the least.

"Only one more to go, and remember to find Sora, okay?" she asked

"I know, I know," I said with a sigh.

Kairi couldn't help but feel a bit bad, I did have a rough day thanks to my absolutely amazing luck. Pff. "Since I feel bad how about I give you some help with the last mushroom?" she asked me with a real, sincere smile.

"Oh, this should be good." I narrowed my eyes.

She ignored that. "There should be some mushrooms near the waterfall on the other side of the island."

I blinked at that, and I had to stop myself from face-palming when I didn't think of looking there in the first place. How much of an idiot am I?! Mushrooms grow in damp, cool places! With that little crisis averted I sent Kairi a grateful smile before saying my thanks and running off towards the shack. When I came out the other door I instantly headed off where Sora's and my Secret Place was, knowing that I have seen mushrooms grow in there many times. As I drew closer I couldn't help but notice how Sora or I have been in our Secret Place for a long time, the raft having taken up so much of it for the past month and a half. Feeling a nostalgic feeling start to come over me I ducked behind the waterfall and headed into the darkness, feeling the cool, damp air form and cling to my skin.

Soon a little room came into view that was filled with tree roots and large rocks, each wall filled with chalk white pictures. A grin came to my lips as I could easily distinguish which pictures were mine and which were Sora's. However, my thoughts were cut off when I heard the sounds of a rock scrapping against the wall and I saw a familiar red clad brunette sitting down, drawing something that I couldn't see.

"Sora?" I called, a grin appear on my lips. "Well, looks like I killed two birds with one stone!"

The poor, oblivious brunette practically jumped ten feet into the air when he heard my voice and instantly stood up, back up towards the wall as if he was protecting it. I couldn't help but laugh slightly when I saw how spooked he looked.

"Akari! Don't sneak up on me like that!" he shouted, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Sorry." I grinned before walking towards him, a curious expression on my face. "What are you drawing?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

That same flustered look appeared on his face. "N-nothing! I-I was just fixing up on-one of the drawings...it...it was fading a little! Yeah!" I rose an eyebrow at him, once again confused by his strange reaction. What was with him today? However, Sora decided to change the subject. "So...uh, what are you doing in here? You looking for something?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

I widened my eyes, remembering what I was here for. Smooth me. Smooth. "Oh, yeah! I'm looking for a mushroom!" Sora rose an eyebrow at me this time, now confused. "I was also looking for you, you're not getting out of looking for provisions, Mister," I said with a stern look, hands on my hips.

"Provisions?" he asked in a whine, now back to his normal self.

"I know." I nodded gravely. "You should have seen how horrible it was for me to get four fish and the last two mushrooms I got. It was horrible."

Sora waited for me to explain.

"A fish attacked me and a rock that was guarding the mushrooms made me look like an idiot," I mumbled.

"Just your luck, huh?" Sora asked with a smirk.

"I know, right?" I laughed.

With a shake of his head, Sora couldn't help but laugh back in return. My luck was always horrible. To me at least. "Didn't Riku or Kairi help you?" he asked when he calmed himself, cocking his head to the side slightly.

I scoffed, "Riku is still missing since you chased him, and Kairi watched but didn't do anything."

"Sounds like something she'd do," the brunette chuckled.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, but shrugged it off. I probably would have done the same, anyway. "Well come on, Kairi and I have a little punishment waiting for you back at the Cove." Sora got a look of complete dread on his face, knowing that our punishments were always horrible, and at that I smirked. "What? You thought you could leave me to get all the provisions myself?" I asked, crossing my arms.

The boy shrugged sheepishly.

"Too bad." I stuck my tongue out at him. "I had to get my stuff on my own and so are you."

"Aw," Sora whined with a pout. "What am I getting?"

"A..." I suddenly found that the punishment that Kairi gave to Sora wasn't as good as we originally thought. Aw, crap. "A Seagull egg and two coconuts?" I grinned with a nervous laugh, feeling slightly stood now.

Now the older boy rose an eyebrow at me, not believing me. "That's it?"

I looked away. "Yeah..."

"Oh no, three things how horrible," Sora said sarcastically as feigned horror, before rolling his eyes. "That's the worst punishment yet."

I blushed in embarrassment. "Shut up! Its a lot harder than it sounds, Sora!" I growled, pouting.

However, a sudden sound of boots scuffing against the ground alerted Sora and I, the smirks instantly dropping from our faces. I tensed up slightly, knowing that no-one else was around when I came in here, and no-one besides Sora and I knew about this place. I glanced at Sora and he glanced at me, our eyes having widened in unison. The sound had come from the entrance to the Secret Place, and slowly we turned our bodies to look at the shadowed area ahead of us in this already dimly lit cave.

"What was that?" I whispered, my eyes not looking away from the shadows.

Sora shook his head, slightly stepping forward as he narrowed his eyes. "Wh-Who's there?" he asked trying to sound commanding, but the stutter made it lose its intended tone.

At first I saw nothing, thinking that it had only been our imagination. However, a movement came from within the shadows, and a brown clad figure stepped into the dim light. I couldn't distinguish a gender, their face hidden in the shadows of the hood that sat on their head. It was a plain brown robe, and the only accessory that was on the person was an 'x' shaped piece of leather that was studded with dull gold. His hands and feet were completely covered, the robes descending way past them and the bottom of the robe trailed slightly onto the floor.

I took a step backwards as I swallowed thickly. It was obvious that this person wasn't from around here.

"I've come to see the door to this world," the figure spoke monotonously.

"Huh?" Sora asked, eyes narrowed.

I bit my lip, the figure's voice deep and masculine. Well, isn't this fun. A strange man covered in nothing but brown robes is with two teenagers in a dark cave, nothing suspicious or creepy about that at all. Pff. I would have voiced those thoughts out loud, but I wouldn't dare say anything that could cause Sora to be in any danger, or myself obviously. Instead I quietly wondered about the "door to this world", my eyes trailing to the large, dark brown door that was to my right. There was no handle, but the shape indicated that it wasn't just a slab of wood that someone just pushed up against the wall for no reason.

"What door?" I found myself asking, although I knew I had a pretty good hunch what he was talking about.

"This world has been connected," the man stated.

I inwardly snorted. *Figures, the guy would ignore our questions.*

What made this worse was that I couldn't tell what his expressions were at all thanks to his face being hidden. Who was this person anyway? I don't recognize his voice at all. Either way I scowled at the tall, older man before us, not liking this cryptic conversation at all.

"Wh-What are you talking about?" Sora asked this time, his stutter telling me he thought the same.

"Tied to the darkness..." I could feel the man's eyes on us as he trailed off, "soon to be completely eclipsed."

Sora narrowed his eyes at the man, his hands clenching in to fists at his sides. "Well, whoever you are, stop freaking us out like this," he yelled at the man, and hearing no stutter or any uncertainty in Sora's voice gave me a bit of courage to speak up as well.

"And actually learn to explain things better," I snapped with a growl.

"Huh?" Sora's eyes suddenly widened, as if a thought had suddenly entered his mind and I sent him a confused look, but kept my eyes on the man as well. "Wh-Where did you come from?" he asked.

My eyes widened, and I instantly felt like an idiot when that thought didn't even cross my mind. It should have been the first thing considering we've never seen anyone wearing these kinds of clothes. Destiny Islands was summer all year round, and the only warm things we owned were thin sweatshirts for the nighttime when the temperature dropped slightly. There was no need for any thick robes like this guy was wearing. I swallowed thickly once again, not liking this. How could someone we've never seen before come onto the island? There was nothing around us, possibly for miles.

"You do not yet know what lies beyond the door," the man said, once again ignoring Sora's question.

I growled, losing my patience. "What door?!" I shouted.

Sora sent me a look when I flinched, instantly regretting shouting at the man. Who knows what he could do? "So, you're from another world!" the brunette stated, changing the subject to make the man's gaze, which I'm pretty sure is on me right now, turn to him.

"There is so very much to learn," the man murmured. "You understand so little."

"Oh, yeah?" Sora glared at the man, that statement obviously hitting its mark in the brunette. "Well, you'll see. We're gonna get out and learn what's out there!"

"A meaningless effort," the man stated.

*You're a meaningless effort,* I spat childishly to myself.

However, I kept a serious gaze on him, slightly unnerved by how still he was. "One who knows nothing can understand nothing," the man's monotonous drawl made me glare up at him, growing annoyed with his freaking cryptic words.

"Maybe if you actually explained what you're talking about then we would understand!" I snapped once again.

Sora sent me another look, but this time I didn't really care. Who was this guy?! He is really starting to tick me off! However, I wasn't on the receiving end of Sora's glare when I saw him looking at the door beside me out of my peripheral vision. But, I suddenly froze when the man suddenly wasn't standing before us anymore, a strange sound going off which made Sora whip his head around to see the man gone as well. The entrance to the Secret Place was just shadows once again, and that didn't sit well with us. I hadn't taken my eyes off of him for a second, so there wasn't anyway for him to sneak away undetected. I bit my lip, not feeling safe in here anymore, something I never thought would happen.

It was safe to say that Sora and I didn't stay in the Secret Place for very long, and Sora and I finished up getting the provisions for the next day. Getting the Seagull egg and the two coconuts was easy for Sora who, with a rather brilliant idea, used the shack as a way to get the egg and used his wooden sword as a way to knock down the ripe coconuts down from the trees. Kairi and I weren't happy. Our perfect plan of revenge went down the drain, but once we got those to her she finally let Sora and I relax. Or relax in the way of saying that she pushed us towards the dock, something that she usually did when she wanted to talk. So, here we were, watching the setting sun float just above the orange colored sea.

"You know," Kairi spoke up softly, "Riku has changed."

Sora and I glanced at each other, surprised by her words. "What do you mean?" Sora asked, eyes wide.

The red head bit her lip as she looked down at her hands as they sat in her lap. "Well..." she started, but trailed off in a hum as she tried to collect her thoughts.

"Kairi?" I asked gently, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder once again.

"You okay?" Sora asked as well.

"Sora, Akari." The younger girl suddenly turned to us with conviction in her eyes, something that made Sora and I stare at her in surprise once again. What was going on with her? "Lets take the raft and go- just the three of us!" she said with excitement.

"Huh?/What?" Sora and I asked, staring at her like she was crazy. She wanted to leave _without_ Riku?

Kairi suddenly laughed, making us relax. "Just kidding."

"What's gotten into you?" Sora asked with a chuckle, raising an eyebrow at the girl. "You're the one that's changed, Kairi."

I cocked my head to the side at him. "Really? She seems the same to me," I mumbled, shrugging.

"Maybe..." The brunette and I turned to Kairi as she looked down once again, a frown etching itself on to her lips. I frowned, her mood is changing too quickly for this to be normal. "You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready thanks to Akari." She sent me a grateful smile, making me blush out of modesty and at the surprised look Sora was giving me. "No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here. Right?" she asked, looking at both of us now.

"Yeah, of course!" Sora said with a nod.

I laughed at her slightly, shaking my head. "Why wouldn't we? This place isn't going anywhere."

Kairi turned back to the horizon, a small smile on her lips. "That's good. You two, don't ever change," she said, not meeting our confused gazes that Sora and I now gave her.

I narrowed my eyes. What is it with people saying cryptic things today?

"Huh?" Sora mumbled, eyes narrowing as well.

"I just can't wait." Kairi stood up, not taking her eyes off the sun as it sunk lower and lower towards the ocean below. "Once we set sail, it'll be great."

Sora and I glanced at each other, not sure of what had gotten into our friend, but turned our eyes towards the sunset as well. She said she was fine, and she seemed to be relaxed so nothing was wrong, right? I frowned, tugging my knees towards my chest and laying my chin upon them, knowing that there were only hours left before we departed from Destiny Islands. It was real. Everything about what we were doing was real. Kairi might not be scared, but I was definitely hesitant about going. However, there wasn't anything that could keep me from being with my friends, so I just kept quiet. Why make them worry? Everything was going to be all right.

...Right?

* * *

The hours had passed by since then, the sky now dark and all of us at our homes. There were still many hours separating us from our departure, and I knew that I should be getting some sleep but I just couldn't. My mind was buzzing with different scenarios that revolved around our trip, both good and bad. I was a worrier, I admit that, but something was leaving me more on edge than was normal. A foreboding and ominous feeling hung in the air, and it made my already dimly lit room seem even darker than it had moments ago. Not even the safety of my bed could make me feel comfortable enough to drive the horrible feelings away. Even the clatter of my mother making dinner and my father's hearty laugh couldn't do anything to help me.

Something was wrong.

Something horribly wrong.

As if on cue, lightning began to stream out in the distance, and a loud clap of thunder rumbled made me sit up with a start. I snapped my head to the left to look out my window, and in the distance I saw the dark outline of the Small Island which seemed to keep the lightning concentrated there. My eyes widened, my thoughts instantly thinking of the raft that sat by the shore. The water looked choppy and the waves seemed bigger than they had all day, easily able to bring the raft out to sea. I bit my lip to keep a curse from falling through them, and I quickly slipped out of my house before my parents could notice. And I was silently thankful that I hadn't made a move to change my clothing when I got home.

I ran towards the docks where I knew my boat would be, and as I got closer I noticed that there was only one left. Mine.

Sora, Riku and Kairi's were missing.

My eyes snapped back to the Small Island, but the island itself didn't catch my attention this time, what hung above it did. It was black, circular mass that hung above the trees and the tall mountain tops. Inside the mass was a dark and bright red fog that twisted and swirl around in it menacingly. At first my body froze in horror and confusion, wondering what the hell that thing was and if I should just turn around. However, the knowledge of knowing my friends were on that island below that dark feeling circular mass helped me move and take my boat out into the raging sea, not caring for the fact that I was soaking wet and completely terrified.

After long minutes passed with me maneuvering my way through the stormy waters I finally managed to find the docks of the Small Island, and I saw three boats that matched mine sitting there tied up to them. Tying mine up as well I ran onto the sand, desperate to get away from the water as quickly as I could. I didn't want to be swept out there to drown. What I did want to do, however, was find my three idiotic friends and drag them back home before they got themselves killed! Granted I'm doing the same thing that they are, but if I want to be the voice of reason than I will!

However, before I could take off in a random direction a flash of light appeared to my right, and my eyes snapped towards the small circular island that the four of us sat on yesterday, the one with the curved tree. I ran up the stairs that lead to the bridge and I saw Sora standing there with his back to me. In his hand was a skeleton key like weapon that was less than half of Sora's height. There was a long silver Keychain extending from the hilt, with a mouse like token on the end. The blade and teeth of the key shaped weapon were silver, the rainguard was blue, and the guard was bright gold. The teeth of the weapon formed the outline of a crown, instantly reminding me of the necklace that Sora always wears.

I didn't care for that thing, however, and I breathed out a sigh of relief to see him before I rushed over to him. "Sora!" I called, instantly gaining his attention and making him turn around.

"Akari?" the brunette asked, ocean blue eyes widening with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

I glared at him, stopping at his side with a deep frown on my lips. "I should be asking you, Riku and Kairi the same thing! Why are you guys out here?! Didn't you notice the huge bubble of doom hanging above this island?!" I growled out at him, my worrying getting the better of me.

"If you saw it why are you here?" Sora asked, not taking offense to my anger.

"What?" I raised an incredulous eyebrow up at him. "And leave you guys here? No! Come on, we have to get Riku and Kairi and go home!" I said taking his arm, beginning to drag him with me.

However, Sora stopped making me stumble at the sudden action. "We...we can't get Riku," he whispered.

I looked at him, my eyes narrowing with confusion. "What do you mean?" Sora looked away from me, and that scared me because before he did I saw shame in his eyes. "Sora, look at me and tell me what you mean," I said now completely scared, stepping towards him and looking up to get a good look at his face.

"Riku..." The older boy looked into my eyes this time, sadness in his usually cheerful eyes. "Riku went into the darkness...and I couldn't stop him," he said quietly.

I stared at him. For those long seconds all I could do was stare at him. Darkness? What darkness? However, I knew that he was telling me the truth, there was no way that Sora could fake a look like that just to make a joke. It took me a second to realize that Riku was gone. Gone as in not here. Not on the Islands. I looked down as I slowly shook my head, my hair whipping into my face both by the gesture and by the wind that was slowly, but surely, starting to pick up. This was just too crazy. First a big, huge...THING appeared out of nowhere and now Riku has disappeared. This is just perfect isn't it? If I hadn't touched Sora earlier, then I would have wondered if I was having some kind of nightmare. But his arm was real; solid and warm.

This wasn't a dream.

"Akari?" Sora asked gently, a worried frown on his lips.

I looked up at him to answer, but when I opened my mouth to speak nothing came out. Not because I couldn't say anything, or I didn't know what to say. But because of the flickering shadows that were forming around us on the ground, slowly raising up to the height that reminded me of small children. I slowly looked around, and I let out a startled, shaky gasp as my eyes widened in fear. Sora quickly noticed my horrified expression and turned around, only for him to freeze at the...creatures that were slowly forming before us. However, I noticed his eyes didn't widen, but they narrowed as if he saw them before.

I turned my attention quickly back to the creatures, seeing distinctive shapes now formed. The creatures vaguely had humanoid body structures with a round, spherical heads and circular, glowing yellow eyes. They also had two long, twisted antennae sprouting out of the top of their heads. Each of their hands had three clawed fingers, and their feet were large and lacked any discernible digits. With the exception of their eyes, their bodies were completely black. They moved around in a swaying motion, their yellow eyes staring at us vacantly as they were in a permanent crouch that made me think they were going to lunge at us. If they had appeared under any other circumstance and they didn't look like they were going to attack I would have been happy to call them cute and adorable, but they only scared me.

"Oh no..." I heard Sora whisper, taking a step back as if to guard me. "Akari run to the boats."

I snapped my head away from the creatures that were slowly closing in around us and looked at the older boy before me, a glare once again in my eyes. "What?! There is no way that I'm leaving you with these things!" I snapped heatedly, moving closer to him as if to prove my statement.

However, I learned that my shouts only worsened the situation. The small ink black creatures instantly leaped at us while others sank back into the ground and swam towards Sora and I.

"Akari!" Sora shouted, sending me a glare.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking!" I shouted back, my eyes wide with fear. Crap!

Sora opened his mouth to shout more at me, but whipped around and swung the key shaped weapon at one of the creatures that tried to scratch at us with their sharp claws. The Shadows disappeared in a mist of darkness before evaporating into the air, like they were never here to begin with. I looked around to see more coming behind us, and I wasn't about to let these things hurt Sora. So, without any kind of planning, I kicked the things away from us, but they only stumbled back as if my kick was just a small little push. However, that didn't stop me from continuing to do that to them before Sora had made a path through the ever growing Shadows, taking my hand and making me run with him down the steps and back onto the beach.

Our safety was short lived as more Shadows began to form and take shape above the ground, making Sora's grip tighten on my hand and we began to head for higher ground near the waterfall. As we ran more and more just kept appearing, like there was a never-ending supply of them somewhere. My heart was racing and my body was shaking, but I kept my feet moving so I wouldn't cause Sora anymore problems. I was already unable to cause damage to these things, I didn't need him to carry me if I was too much of a coward to run. However, I made my feet stop when I saw white, richly decorated double doors in place of the entrance to the Secret Place. Sora began to tug me to get me to run again, but I tugged him back, something telling me that we _needed _to go in there.

"Sora! Look!" I shoved him forward slightly, pointing towards the doors.

"Its just a door! Come on, we have to-" Sora stopped himself as the Shadows crept on us again, and he growled under his breath as he glared at the things. "Fine! Lets go," he said pulling me as he ran ahead of me, throwing the doors open.

The dark, damp feeling of the cave washed over us, and at the familiar feeling I relaxed. My body only relaxing more as I didn't see any of those Shadows appearing around us anymore. Sora dropped my hand, knowing that we were safe. For now at least. I walked ahead of him, not wanting to be any closer to the outside than I had to be, not with those things out to kill us. We quickly made our way deeper into the gave, the familiar sketches appearing more and more around us as we went.

I stopped with a gasp, however, when my eyes landed on a familiar red head standing before the large, handle-less door. "Wh-wha? What are you doing in here?" I asked, although I was relieved to know she wasn't out there being attacked by the Shadows.

"Kairi!" Sora said from behind me, relieved to see her safe as well.

The red head had her back towards us, but when she recognized our voices she slowly turned around. I gasped again, this time at the state that the poor girl was in. Her skin was a sickly pale color, dark bags beneath her indigo colored eyes that seemed to have lost their shine. She looked sick, and I was surprised that she was even standing considering her physical state.

"Akari. Sora..." she whispered.

Slowly she rose her hand towards us, and I moved forward to take her back over to Sora, but a sudden gust of darkness shot out from behind the doorway. I stumbled back, falling into Sora's chest from the strong force. I looked upward at Kairi to see her still standing, completely fine against the wave of darkness that surrounded her. However, I was wrong. Her body suddenly flung forward and I stepped against the force to grab her, only for her to slam into my chest and send me back into Sora, disappearing like a ghost. I let out a gasp, a sudden heavy feeling coming over my chest before it quickly went away.

Sora grabbed me, his arms wrapped around my smaller frame as he felt the force get stronger. Our feet then lifted from the ground and we were thrown back, and I closed my eyes tightly as I braced for the impact of us hitting the door that guarded the entrance to the Secret Place. We floated in the air for what seemed like ages, Sora's arms still wrapped around me tightly and I just kept my eyes closed as I feared the worst. What was even happening? Why were their creatures attacking us? Why did Riku go into the darkness? Why did Kairi disappear? What was that giant orb hanging above the Small Island? So many questions raged within me, but I knew that I could come up with no answers.

A collective gasp of pain came from Sora and I as we landed onto what felt like sand, Sora's body rolling over as if to protect me from some unseen force above us. I opened my eyes, slowly sitting up only when Sora did, his arms on either side of me. When I heard Sora gasp I rose my head and looked around, seeing us on a small land made up of sand and broken wood and toppled over palm trees that once made up our Islands. Around us was dark purple smog that coated the outer edges of the broken land, but there was still rapidly whipping wind slamming against at all angles. I moved out from under Sora, my mouth hanging open in shock as I stared around us before slowly turning to Sora, hoping that he was seeing what I was seeing just so I knew I wasn't going insane. Although, a second later I realized that was both the wrong, and right, thing to do.

A scream filled the air and at first I wondered who it was, but came to realize a second later that it was me. My wide dark honey orbs were staring up in fright at the large creature that towered over Sora and I, the brunette staring at me in concern before whipping around to see what had scared me.

There was a massive, muscular, humanoid creature, with the same ink black skin that had been on the Shadows', standing yards away from us. Its legs were rather short and its feet were very thin and curled upwards. Its arms were quite long, and it had two relatively small, twisted wings on its back. There was a large, heart-shaped hole in the abdominal area, which penetrated straight through from the front to the back. Its head was covered in dozens of twisted, black tentacles that had darkness twisting and swirly around them. Only its small, glowing yellow eyes were visible. It leered down at us, and I moved back, my body shaking with horror and confusion. Something...something like THIS wasn't suppose to exist! How the hell was it here?!

Sora was up on his feet in an instant, and even with his back to me I knew his ocean blue eyes were narrowed into a glare as he looked up at Darkside. A bright light flashed around his right hand, a second later it dimming to reveal the key shaped weapon that I had seen him use earlier.

"Sora?" my breathless, shaky voice asked as I slowly stood up. "What is that?"

The brunette didn't look at me. "A Keyblade."

I narrowed my eyes, but snapped them up at Darkside as its hostile yellow orbs beamed down at us, waiting for movements. "What? How do you know?" I asked, glancing at Sora as slowly moved towards him.

"I...I don't know," Sora mumbled, lowering his head for a moment before looking back up. "I just do."

"Do you think that's gonna help us?" I swallowed thickly, and not even the knowledge of knowing this weapon could destroy the Shadows could reassure me that we were going to get out of this alive. A wrong time to pessimistic, but when everything was going to Hell it was hard to be hopeful. "That thing doesn't look like its gonna do much damage to _that_," I murmured as I bit my lip.

Sora sent me a shaky, but encouraging smile over his shoulder. "Won't hurt to try, right?" he asked, and I knew he needed as much reassurance as I did.

"What else have we got to lose?" I asked with a bitter laugh.

Looking back towards Darkside, Sora began to side step away from me, instantly gaining the large creature's attention. "Akari, I want you to stay back, okay?" he asked, glancing at me quickly with a narrowed, serious gaze.

I quickly followed him, ignoring my fear. "Sora, you're an idiot if you think I'm gonna say yes," I stated.

"You don't have a weapon." The brunette glared.

I sucked in a deep breath as I mentally prepared myself for the stupidest thing I was ever going to do in my life. "Doesn't hurt to have a distraction, right?" I gave the older boy a large grin before I ran in the opposite direction, ignoring Sora's alarmed shouts of my name as I grabbed a decent sized rock in my hand. "Oi! Look over here you fugly monster!" I shouted, chucking the rock at the creature's hand, that being the closet thing for me to hit.

Darkside snarled at me, its voice dark and deformed as it narrowed its eyes down at my form.

"Akari!" Sora hissed, glaring at me heatedly.

I sent the look back at him, dodging a slow swipe that Darkside sent at me with its large clawed hand. "Don't just stand there, Sora! Attack it! I have it distracted!" I shouted, throwing more rocks to keep its attention.

Sora glared for a moment longer before racing towards other hand, and when he was close enough began to throw barrages of swipes at it, making Darkside hiss with anger and pain. It began to turn its gaze way from me, my attacks doing little to no affect at all, but I kept trying to distract it regardless. However, my target suddenly moved above Darkside's head before it slammed down towards Sora who, thankfully, dodged both the attack and the shock wave that formed beneath its fist. I barely jumped over the shock wave when it raced towards me, my eyes on the ground near Sora as a dark pool began to form. Shadows began to rise out from the darkness, and I scowled at the unfairness of it all. So that stupid Darkside can make Shadows? Great, just what we needed! _More _enemies!

Sora was already having enough trouble trying to kill Darkside, and since I was useless against the large creature I ran towards the Shadows, kicking them with as much strength as I had. They stumbled again, that being the only thing that indicated I did anything to them, before they all rounded on me. Some sank beneath the surface, ink black spots beginning to circle around me while others began to run at me with claws drawn. I scowled at them, narrowly dodging the swipes that they directed at me while also keeping an eye on the ones that were still swimming beneath the ground. You may think that I'm calm about this, but you'd be dead wrong. ...Ooh, okay don't say dead, not a good word to use right now.

I was scared beyond what was considered normal, but there was no indication on the outside. On the inside I was freaking out, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into a ball and just lay there and hope that this ended. But, as I said before, Sora didn't need to worry about me while he could easily be killed by that stupid Darkside monster-thing he was fighting. So, I continued to swipe and kick at the yellow eyed Shadows, while Sora continued to swipe at the ha-

Oh. My. God.

"Sora!" I shouted, or did I shriek?, wide eyed, my heart almost leaping out of my mouth at the sight before me. "What are you doing!?"

The brunette didn't bother to answer me, his eyes set in determination as he ran up the bulky left arm towards Darkside's head. I would have shouted again, but a small sharp pain in my arm made me aware of the Shadows still around me. I cursed under my breath before running away from them, Sora not anywhere where they could get their sharp fingers on him. I heard the sounds of hisses and snarls appear above me, and I looked up to see Sora let another round of attacks slam against the monster's head. I winced at the hits echoed in the air, somehow louder than the wind that didn't let up for even a minute. It wasn't long before Sora jumped back down from Darkside's shoulders and landed next to me, stumbling slightly as he tried to get his barrings back.

Seeing Darkside bring up his other hand to repeat his earlier attack I grabbed Sora's hand, dragging him away from the spot. "You are so lucky that you didn't get hurt, you idiot!" I glared at him as we both jumped, the shock wave barely hitting us as we ran. "Why would you ever think about running up its _arms_!?" I hissed, my heart still beating rapidly from my earlier fright.

"Sorry!" Sora grinned sheepishly before hitting away some Shadows, the creatures disappear into darkness. "I had experience though, I knew what I was doing!" he said.

"How?" I asked, dodging a swipe that came dangerously close to my chest.

Another swipe from Sora's weapon and we were in the clear, for at least a few seconds anyway. "Remember that dream I had yesterday?" I narrowed my eyes at the older boy, but nodded. "Well..." He pointed up at Darkside rather limply. "That was the big black THING..." he mumbled.

"What!?" Sora flinched back, but I didn't care. "I thought you were making that up!"

"I thought so too!" he shouted back.

I groaned, putting my head in my hands. "This is horrible, Sora! Why couldn't you keep your imaginations to yourself!?" I whined, but let out a squeak when I stumbled backwards from Sora's push.

A large swipe came from Darkside's massive hand, and I probably would have been thrown off the small piece of island had Sora not done that. However, Darkside wasn't done with his attacks. The large monster leaned back, its arms spread out as darkness began to swarm in the heart-shaped hole in its body. I swallowed thickly, but I blinked out of my daze when Sora appeared before me, his weapon out in front of us and in a position that looked like he was prepared to swipe at whatever was coming our way. Well, whatever it was, Sora obviously knew what to do. At least that's one of us.

Suddenly, rapid bursts of darkness flew out from the force that had been created and were heading towards us. I let out a squeak of fear, but Sora didn't even move a muscle until the homing missile-like spheres were just about to connect with us. The brunette swiped them away with ease, the missiles heading back towards Darkside with some actually hitting it, making it let out a dark snarl of pain. More and more came towards us, but none ever hit us thanks to Sora's well placed aim and perfect timing, making me so glad that Sora and Riku had decided to spar with those wooden swords ever since they were little. Without those skills I doubt we would still be standing.

I blanched slightly, swallowing thickly once again. Fun thoughts.

Real fun thoughts.

"Akari." I snapped my head to look at Sora, seeing his ocean blue gaze staring at me over his shoulder. "I think its almost dead, just stay back and be careful, okay?" he asked, and I stared at him like he was an idiot.

"Are you cra-"

"Just do it!" he snapped in all seriousness, making anymore protests die on my tongue.

With a reluctant nod I moved away from him as the last of the missiles were fired and repelled away. "Fine, but if you get yourself killed I'm going to be so angry with you!" I snapped back.

Sora sent me a lopsided grin before racing towards Darkside's arm once again, and racing up to its shoulder. As Sora swiped and stabbed at the monster's head, I dodged another swarm of Shadows that had appeared, and I was slowly losing stamina. These things just never went away, did they? It was as if you killed one then five appeared in its place, and I was starting to wonder if this was even a battle we could win. I mean, come on! Sora and I are just two teenagers, what the hell can we do against monsters?! However, that didn't mean I was going to let these things kill me, no way in Hell. I would sooner jump off this island and die from the fall than let these things do whatever they wanted to do, which had to do with something about my chest, their swipes more directed to that area than any other place on my body.

Dumb, perverted ant things.

A sharp shriek pierced the air and I looked up to see Sora falling to the ground in a stumble as Darkside began to fall backwards, and I knew from that cry of pain that Sora had somehow killed it. Not bothering anymore with the Shadows I raced towards the brunette, not noticing how Darkside and the Shadows began to rise off the ground and towards the dark sphere that had hung above us during the whole battle. I reached Sora and looked him over, hoping to find no gashes or any wounds on him. All I found were small scratches and bruises, and I let out a sigh of relief. That was a little too close for comfort.

I opened my mouth to ask him if he was really all right, but the words died away when I felt my feet lift off the ground, and I let out a shriek of surprise at how weightless I felt. Oh, come on! What was happening _now_?!

"Akari!" Sora shouted grabbing my hand with wide eyes, his other hand, now free of his weapon, clutching onto broken boards that littered the sand beneath us.

I clutched onto his hand tightly, closing my eyes. "Don't you dare let go, Sora!" I shouted over the wind.

A grunt of effort escaped Sora's lips as his fingers curled tightly around the edge of the board, desperately trying to keep us from being pulled away by the force that was threatening to suck us away. "I-I'm! Try...ing!" he growled out, pulling us a little further towards the ground.

However, that had been the wrong thing to do.

With the last of his strength used, Sora's fingers fell limp and the rushing wind that whipped past my ears told me that we were now flying towards the sky at a fast pace. Sora let out a startled cry and he was suddenly flung away from me, and that made me open my eyes. At first all I saw was the small island growing smaller and smaller as the seconds ticked by, and the destruction of it as the sand began to fly towards the sphere of darkness behind me. Remembering Sora I twisted my body into the air to see the brunette not that far from me, but with so much force keeping us apart it seemed like he was miles away. Fear gripped my heart as we separated more and more, and I was scared that he would end up just like Riku and Kairi, disappearing right before my eyes and leaving me alone to face the worst of this horrible nightmare.

"Akari!" Sora shouted, reaching for me.

I desperately tried to claw my way towards him, my hand outstretched for him to grab. "Sora!"

Then, everything went black.

* * *

**And that is the second chapter!**

**Blah. I really sucked at the fighting scene. Gross. Dx**

**Sorry. XD Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it either way and drop a review if you want. I disabled the anonymous review blocker, so if you don't have a profile on here then you can still review.**

**See you next time! :D**


	3. Meetings

**A/N: Hello everyone! Its been a while since I did anything with this story, but now I have! And yes, there Is still only three chapters! :D**

**I bet you're all wondering why that is. Well, its very simple. I edited it.**

**I wanted to make this story original. So, NO KEYBLADE FOR AKARI! :D**

**Her weapon will be revealed soon enough, but it won't be until the second world. Which, if you don't know, is Olympus Coliseum. **

**Anyway, enjoy the edited chapter! And it IS edited, you just have to read a bit to see the difference. So yeah, enjoy! :D**

~*~*~*Story Start*~*~*~

A fogginess filled my head, and a dull pain made itself known as it pulsed in a rapid, steady motion against my temple. My body felt bruised, awareness slowly seeping into me as my mind crawled itself out of the darkness known as unconsciousness. My arms felt like they had been stepped on, my back felt like it was broken, and my neck was completely stiff. I didn't want to move, fearing that I really had broken bones and moving would only make them worse. I didn't even want to open my eyes when I heard the sound of far off talking, or the sight of different colored lights that rested against my closed eyelids. Beneath me I laid on what felt like cobblestones, which did not help my neck or back in the least. But the most noticeable was that there wasn't any scent of saltwater in the air, something that made me tense up. It was impossible for Destiny Islands to _not_ have the scent of saltwater in the air.

Now I really didn't want to open my eyes. What if I wasn't on the Islands anymore? What if I was and I was surrounded by nothing but ruins? That thought didn't sit well with me, and I squeezed my eyes tightly, curling myself tighter into a little ball. This had to have been some kind of nightmare, right? I mean, I just fell off my bed and I'm on my wooden floor, right? I just had a nightmare, but it didn't really happen and Sora, Riku and Kairi are still here and we're going out to search for new Worlds today. Right?

Oh, god.

That really did happen, didn't it?

I shook my head slightly in denial, my heart beating louder and louder and so hard against my chest that I was surprised my ribs didn't hurt. I kept my eyes closed, because if I didn't see anything than it wasn't real. None of it was real. This was a dream and nothing more. I'm fine. Sora, Riku and Kairi are fine. We aren't separated from each other. Our Islands weren't attacked by some horrible monster. Our Islands didn't get destroyed. Sora and I didn't face any of those Shadows. Sora doesn't have a key shaped weapon that magically appears out of nowhere in some kind of crazy light. Riku didn't go into the darkness. Kairi didn't disappear into nothing. None. Of. It. Happened.

Before I could try and reassure myself with lies, even if I didn't want to admit that they were lies, something rather large and heavy stepped on me. I let out a yelp of pain and instantly sat up, my eyes flying open in surprise. A squawk like noise filled the air and a thud appeared not that far from me and to my left, and my eyes snapped towards the noises only for me to stare dumbly. And I mean dumbly, too. I just sat there, my eyes blinking owlishly. I mean, what I was seeing only reenforced my idea that this was all a dream. Or reenforce the lies that this was a dream to put it more accurately.

What I was seeing wasn't normal, not by any sense of the word. On the ground, grumbling to himself in a very strange sounding voice, that made me wonder what he was saying, was an anthropomorphic duck. The duck had white plumage, a yellow-orange bill, legs of the same color, light blue eyes, and a short tuft of feathers on his head, visible under his blue beret. His high-collared jacket was navy blue with sky blue lining and cuffs. He had a short, blue cape with yellow lining that he wore draped over his shoulders, kept in place by a silver strap. The duck also wore a thick, gold bangle on each of his wrists, and lastly didn't wear pants.

...

I have some _really_ messed up dreams.

"Miss?" an adorable, goofy, yet concerned, sounding voice asked to my right, making me jump. "Are you all right?"

I looked quickly away from the duck and turned to the owner of the new voice. *Oh, my day just keeps getting better doesn't it?* I asked myself sarcastically, but my eyes only widened and my mouth fell open in complete shock.

As if an anthropomorphic duck wasn't bad enough, there just HAD to be another anthropomorphic animal.

This time it was a dog.

The dog had black fur and droopy ears that I immediately found adorable, and he had a sweet face. He had two bucked teeth and three short hairs coming out of the top of his head, just in front of his hat which only made him look cuter. The dog's hat was orange, and he wore a green turtleneck sweater with sleeves that belled out slightly and a blue arrow-shaped strap on each cuff and a sleeveless, black combat vest over it. On his wrist were white gloves with a brown band around each wrist. His pants were yellow and secured by a thick, black belt and wore large shoes which were brown with steel toes on the outside.

The dog looked even more concerned at my silence."Miss? You don't look so go-"

"Hey!" the duck cut him off with a harsh snap, and I flinched before I backed up slightly startled. "Whats the big idea laying on the ground like that!?"

I swallowed thickly, paling. "I...I-I-"

"Well!?" the duck snapped again.

The dog came to my rescue, putting a calm hand on the duck's shoulder. "Aw, come on Donald, I think your scarin' her." Donald sent the dog a glare before huffing, looking off with a grumble while the dog looked back at me with a gentle smile that made me relax. Sort of. "Don't be scared of Donald, Miss, he's really just a big softy once ya get ta know 'em," he said with a laugh that almost made me smile in return.

Almost.

"Hey!" Donald growled, sending the dog another glare.

"The names Goofy!" the dog introduced cheerfully, his smile widening down at me.

I bit my lip before deciding just to go along with it, either I'm asleep or insane so why not? "...I'm Akari," I said in a shy whisper, smiling rather nervously.

"Well, its nice ta meet ya, Akari," Goofy said with a smile, laughing that adorable laugh once again.

I smiled a little wider now. "Nice to meet you too, Goofy." I turned to the duck who was still shooting me glares, obviously not happy about how I chose this place to pass out in. "Um...Sorry," I mumbled, rubbing my arm slightly despite how they still felt like they were bruised.

The duck let out a humph, but nodded. "Just don't do it again," he grumbled, eyes still narrowed.

"So, Akari," the dog started as he held out a hand for me to take, and I was surprised by how friendly this complete stranger was to me. Dream or not. Yes, I still consider this a dream. "Why were ya on the ground anyway? Were ya hurt?" he asked in that same concerned tone that he had used earlier, cocking his head to the side which made me think of a puppy.

I bit my lip. "I don't know, I just wound up here," I answered, shrugging.

Wait.

My eyes widened for the third time since I 'woke' up, and I finally looked around to see where I was. Donald, Goofy and I were standing on a landing between two stairs, the top stairs turning to the left while the bottom one was straight. The colors of the area we were in were dark, rich browns and tans, brightly colored neon lights flashing on signs outside of the many shops that littered the streets above and below us. The sky showed that it was night time and it was clear, the stars easily visible and sparkling beautifully. However, if this was any other time I would have been excited to be in some place new; a new World. Of course, however, I wasn't happy in the least. More like I was shocked. Horrified.

"W-where," I started as I looked up at Goofy with a scared expression. "Where _is_ here anyway?"

Donald gave me a confused look, acting like I was some kind of idiot but I didn't really care to take offense to that look right now. "What are you talking about? We're in Traverse Town," he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Traverse Town...?" I breathed out, my eyes widening.

I slowly shook my head, backing up until my back hit a wall behind me and I slide down it, putting my head in my hands. It was at that time that I finally accepted that this wasn't a nightmare. I was really somewhere else. I was really in another _World_. I stiffened at the thought, fear overcoming me as my eyes widened. If I'm in another World, then what happened to _mine_? What happened to everyone? What happened to my...oh my god, my parents! What happened to them!? What about everyone else!? Were they...dead!? Did they make it here, too!? Something told me that they didn't, that they were swallowed up by whatever happened to our beautiful home. Tears pooled in my dark honey orbs, threatening to fall as my chest tightened in grief.

"Akari?" Goofy asked in concern before looking at Donald who shrugged.

I looked up, and I saw his eyes soften at me as he obviously saw the tears visible on the edges of mine. "I'm in another World...aren't I? My home got destroyed and I was sent here for some reason, wasn't I?" I asked sadly, my throat tightening as I tried to keep the tears from falling.

Donald and Goofy looked at each other, not sure of what to say. "Uh..."

"Never mind." I shook my head with a bitter laugh. "I must sound crazy, don't I?" I asked, my voice cracking slightly with emotion.

Goofy couldn't help it, and shook his head quickly. "Of course we don't think you're crazy! Ya see, me and Donald here come from another World, too!" he said with an encouraging grin.

"Goofy!" Donald snapped before shushing him.

"Oh!" The dog slapped his hands over his muzzle, saying, "Sorry, Donald."

I frowned. "So, those ant things attacked your World, too?" I asked once more, somehow knowing that I wasn't alone made me feel better. Slightly. Wait, who am I kidding? It didn't make me feel better at all, that only made this more real.

"Nu-uh," Goofy said shaking his head. "We're here on a mission!"

Donald growled, his right eye twitching and I obviously knew that Goofy wasn't suppose to say that. "Goofy! We're not suppose to let other people know!" he shouted, hitting the poor dog with a ...staff?

"Ow!" The dog rubbed his head, stating with a frown, "That hurt, Donald."

This time I came to Goofy's rescue, it was the least that I could do since he was so nice to me even though we met not even five minutes ago. "No, its fine really!" I got up to stop the duck from hitting Goofy again. "I won't tell anyone, I promise!" I said with a serious gaze, looking down at the duck.

"How do I know we can trust you?" he asked a bit suspiciously.

"Who am I going to tell?" I asked with a humorless chuckle, my eyes dimming to brown. "I'm alone here-"

Donald and Goofy shared a confused look, well Donald's still looked suspicious obviously, before staring at my wide eyed, silent form. I didn't even care for the stares that I was getting, I was too shocked and angry at myself for forgetting. I mean, how_ could_ I forget!? God, I'm the worst friend that could possibly grace the entire world! Or World_s_ if I want to be technical about it!

"Sora!" I shouted slightly hysterical, making both anthropomorphic animals jump at the sound of my voice raising one octave higher. "Oh, god I have to find him!" I looked at their startled expressions and I didn't know why but I had to make them believe me. So I went over to them and stared up and down at them with wide, begging eyes. "It was horrible! There was this huge monster that attacked us on our Island, and everything was crawling with these bug like creatures too and they kept attacking us! Then me and my friend were sucked up into this orb thing, but we were separated and I don't know if he's all right and I don't know how I ended up here or anything or if Sora's here and I-"

"Stop! Stop!" Donald shouted, cutting me off mid-hysterics. "Calm down, we can't understand you!"

Despite myself, I inwardly snorted at that last statement. *Like you're one to talk, duck,* I thought bitterly, but stopped myself from actually saying it. Goofy said he was nice, so he can't be all that bad.

"Wanna start again?" Goofy asked nicely.

Donald groaned, rolling his eyes but ignored the glare that I gave him. Well, that was rather rude! "We don't have time for this, Goofy!" he said giving his friend a hard look, and once again he ignored the glare I was giving him. But, I couldn't help but understand. I _was_ dropping all of this on them...

"Aw, come on, Donald she needs help," the dog said with a frown on his lips.

The duck, however, didn't look like he was going to budge. "We have to look for the "Key", remember?" he asked putting emphasize on "Key", which made me really confused.

"Key?" I narrowed my eyes. "What kind of key ? A door key?"

"None of your business!" Donald snapped.

I glared down at the short-tempered duck and he gladly gave me one in return, a glare off of sorts going on while Goofy stared at us and I bet he could see electricity sparking between Donald and I. What was this duck's problem anyway!? Was he _still_ angry about what happened earlier!? I didn't mean to trip him and I apologized for it even though it wasn't my fault! He should be a lot nicer than this! How Goofy says that this guy is nice is beyond me!

Suddenly, Goofy's eyes widened. "Um, Donald? Akari?" he asked, looking at something behind us.

Donald and I just ignored him.

"Donald!" the dog shouted urgently this time.

Still, we didn't stop.

"Akari! Look out!"

I blinked in surprise at how worried Goofy sounded and I looked at said dog, only to have him push me behind him, making me stumble a bit in surprise. I opened my mouth to ask what was going on, but stopped when I saw a flash of light and a large shield appeared in his hands. Okay, now I was confused. Now other people can make weapons appear in lights like Sora? What was this? However, I grew serious when I saw Goofy's normally cheerful eyes narrowed into a concentrated gaze before us. Following where they were going, I saw familiar ink black spots squirming under the surface of the cobble stones, while others started to take form above the ground and began to surround us.

The Shadows.

Donald glared at the ant like creatures that leered at us with blank yellow eyes. "Oh great, just what we needed," he growled to himself in irritation, holding his staff in a ready position.

"Akari." I looked up at Goofy as he gave me a reassuring smile over his shoulder. "Stay behind me, okay?"

I stared at him like he was crazy, what could a shield and a staff do? "What!? Are you two crazy!? You guys can't fight these things! You don't have that Keyblade weapon like my friend does!" I said looking at them, I was pretty sure that was the only weapon that seemed to work against these stupid things.

"Fir-what?" Donald stopped whatever he was doing and stared at me in confusion.

However, Shadows lunged at the duck and Donald held his staff in a batting position before he swung at the the ants-like creatures. They stumbled back, and I was going to yell at him that it was useless. My words were caught in my throat, however, when the duck yelled "Fire!" and the Shadows around him were engulfed in red flames. The Shadows that were hit withered before exploding into that familiar dark mist that they did when Sora struck them with his Keyblade. My mouth fell open in shock as Donald shouted more elements, lightning striking down on the creatures and other times they were encased in ice before they died away when their prisons broke. Goofy was blocking the swipes that were being directed at him and I, and he would attacked by holding out the shield and swing around in a giant circle that knocked all of Shadows back. Donald would then get the other Shadows that didn't die from Goofy's attack with more elemental magic.

I just stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to think. I mean, would _could_ I think right now? That magic, creatures and all of this really existed? Sure I said that I accepted being placed in another World, but that didn't mean that I still couldn't wonder if this was really happening. It was too surreal, too crazy for me to really just be like "Oh yeah, this is happening, what a lovely freaking day we're having today, right?". Pff. Nothing was lovely about today or this whole situation that I was being placed in. And what about Sora? What was happening to him? What about Riku? Or Kairi? Where they okay, too? Where they here in Traverse Town? Or did they end up in some other World? Apparently there were more Worlds out there considering Donald and Goofy aren't from around here.

I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. Especially behind me. Shadows were slowly rising from the ground and swaying towards me, their backs hunched in that predator style. Their claws were poised for attack and if they were like the ones back at Destiny Islands they were going to go for my chest for whatever reason, that being the hot spot for them. However, I was lucky that I had Donald and Goofy there or I probably wouldn't be standing here at all. When they had finished with the last of their Shadows they began to put away their weapons in another flash of light. Donald Goofy turned to me to see if I was all right. It was safe to say that their eyes widened in panic as they saw the creatures advancing on me slowly, my back still to them and my mind somewhere else.

"Hey! Look out!" Donald shouted with a loud squawk.

I blinked up at the sound and narrowed my eyes, but I heard small hisses from behind me and froze. My mind went blank and my body refused to move away from the danger, my back prickling as I felt their hungry gazes landing on my form. Great. The _one_ time I space out and I'm going to be killed! What a wonderful freaking day this day turned out to be!

"Donald!" Goofy shouted to his smaller friend as the Shadows lunged at me, both of them too far away to get their in time and Donald was the only long range fighter.

"I know!" Donald's staff reappeared and the duck held it at the ready, shouting, "Blizzaga!"

Without even thinking I closed my eyes tightly and covered my head, hunched over as if that would protect me. So many thoughts were going through my mind, going by in such a blur that I couldn't remember any of them. Flashes of my childhood appeared before my closed eyes, and me reaching out for Sora's hand before I appeared in Traverse Town. I could feel the sting of tears beginning to form, hearing the hisses from behind me

I heard the claws scrapping against the cobble stones.

The air changed as they lunged.

The unearthly sound of them jumping from the ground met my ears.

A tear fell.

A blast of cold air hit my black, and my eyes snapped open in shock. I whipped my head around, only to take a startled step back when my face came an inch close to slamming into an ice encased claw of a Shadow. The Shadows that had lunged were suspended in air, and I heard Donald and Goofy let out sighs of relief. A shuttering breath passed my lips, and my legs gave out as I slumped onto my knees. As I did the ice shattered, the little shards sparkling in the lamp lights as they fell around me, melting onto my skin and hair, as well as the cobblestones.

Another flash of light went off to my right, but I was still staring in shock, my heart beating wildly.

That was too close for comfort.

"Akari." Goofy's voice and face appeared in front of me, making me blink back into reality and stare up at him. "Are you all right? Did any of 'em hurt you?" the anthropomorphic dog asked, his as wide as mine.

I only numbly nodded, my throat closing up on me for a moment.

Donald's shoulders slumped, mumbling, "That was close."

If I wasn't in slight shock I would have snorted bitterly, that being an understatement. One more second I would have had a claw through my head. I shuttered at the thought, but kept my head clear from that visual. I wasn't dead, so that was good. For obvious reasons, of course.

Another shuttered breath escaped and I shakily rose to my feet, Goofy holding out his hands just encase I fell over. However, I had my barrings back. "Thanks, Donald," I whispered breathlessly.

The duck nodded. "Just be more observant."

"Don't need to tell me that twice," I said with a forced smile falling over my lips.

Goofy frowned, looking around with a trouble expression on his face. "Why did those guys appear all of a sudden?" he mumbled to himself, his tone also troubled.

Donald and I turned to him, confused. "What'd you say?" Donald asked, raising an eyebrow up at his tall companion, while I frowned.

Hearing us, he turned to meet our gazes, and I didn't really like what I saw. "I'm not really sure or nothin', but I think they were after you, Akari," Goofy said, looking at me with a worried look in his eyes.

"Huh?" I asked, eyes widening once again.

"What are you talking about?" Donald asked, eyes narrowed.

Goofy looked up in thought, before looking down at Donald. "Well, if they weren't, why did they only come when Akari was here?" he asked as he cocked his head to the side, genuinely curious. Donald looked down, rummaging through his mind for any sign of them, but when I saw his eyes widen slightly I knew that here was no such luck.

Oh, no.

Hearing that, a chill went through my body. "Are..." The two animals turned to my pale form. "Are you..._sure_ you didn't see any?" I asked. A sickening, heavy feeling was beginning to form in the pit of my stomach at the thought.

Donald and Goofy shared a look, and my hope for them being wrong was diminishing at an incredibly fast pace. I could feel my legs start to feel weak again, but I forced myself to stay upright. If I couldn't even handle this, then who was to say that I could handle what else this stupid, crazy place could throw at me? For all I know those things _could_ be after me, and something bigger and more dangerous could come as well! However, I still held prayed that they were just overlooking something and that I wasn't a target for whatever reason, but I already knew the answer before they gave it.

The two anthropomorphic animals just nodded their heads.

"Perfect." A Completely forced smile formed on my lips. "Not even ten minutes of being here and my life is already going to Hell? This is just perfect," I spat to myself bitterly.

"Do you know why they're after you?" Donald suddenly asked, another look of suspicion his eyes.

I gave him a look, not particularly in the mood to go into another interrogation. "No. I don't," I said, anger beginning to seep into my words once again. I knew that my attitude wouldn't help, but I was already going through so much crap that I didn't even care at this point.

Donald, however, didn't stop. "Earlier you said that we couldn't kill those things without some weapon your friend has. How did you know that?" he asked.

"I know that because those things destroyed my Islands!" I snapped, glaring.

Goofy frowned, looking between us two again. "Donald, its not her fault," he said, coming to my rescue.

"But you said that she was the one that those things are after!" Donald argued back, and I sent him another glare. Geez, I thought after him saving my life and all that we'd be on good terms, but apparently that's not going to happen.

"That doesn't mean she's the one doin' it," the dog pointed out.

Donald opened his mouth to counter that, but after a second he closed his bill once again with a glare.

"Wait." The two animals looked at me, seeing the worried look that quickly overtook my face as a thought came to mind. "If...if they're really after me...what am I gonna do?" I asked, swallowing thickly.

"I think we should take ya with us," Goofy spoke up.

My eyes widened. "Wai-"

"What?!" Donald asked angrily, making me jump slightly. "Goofy, we can't do that! We're on a mission, remember?!"

A pout came to the dog's lips. "Aw, come on, Donald. She's in danger."

"We don't even know if she is being targeted by those things!" Donald glared up at Goofy, his arms crossed in a firm position that greatly matched his tone. "We're not babysitters, Goofy!" he said with a growl of annoyance lacing his words. Thanks, duck.

"Don't I get a say in this?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Sure I don't want to be alone, but they were still people I didn't know.

They just ignored me.

"Donald, what if she gets hurt?" Goofy asked, frowning.

The duck let out a huff of exasperation and annoyance. "That's not our problem, Goofy! We're suppose to be looking for the 'Key'!" he said, his position still firm and unmoving.

I stared at the two blankly, not really liking how they talking about me like I wasn't even here. Also, were they saying that they were taking me to see someone? Who are these people!? I don't know any of them, and there's NO way that I'm going anywhere with strangers! Do they think I've never seen those school specials they use to play for us when we were in elementary school!?

Stranger Danger!

I need an adult!

"Wait," Donald started as he turned to me, eyes narrowing.

I narrowed my eyes. "What?"

The anthropomorphic duck didn't care for my tone or glare. "You're friend, Sora, right?" he asked, and I felt myself stiffen and glare at him in suspicion. He BETTER not bring Sora into this.

I just stayed silent.

"Don't worry, Akari, Donald's not gonna do anythin'," Goofy said, taking notice of my expression.

Ignoring his companion Donald walked towards me, and it took everything I had to stop myself from backing up. "What did you call that weapon he had? Did you call it a Keyblade?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me, as if daring me to stay silent. Ooh, this duck...

"And what if it is called that?" I asked, arms crossed.

The duck glared at me, and I met it. Goofy got the same look on his face from before, but we didn't really care right now. If he was going to threaten Sora, there was no way in Hell I was going to go with these guys. Goofy is nice, but so far I don't trust Donald as far as I can throw him. Besides, who was he anyway to ask about Sora or that weapon? I already knew that he could do freaky magic, so that means that he could hurt Sora, right? Yeah, fat chance of me ever telling him anything, and I sure as Hell wasn't going with him either.

"It looks like you're gonna have to come with us," Donald suddenly stated.

I stiffened in shock. "I don't know either of you." I growled.

Again, Goofy, being the only one out of the two that I felt safe around, came forward to persuade me. "We're not gonna do anythin' ta hurt you or your friend, Akari. We're the good guys," he said the last part with a smile.

"How can I trust you two?" I asked back, taking a small step away from them.

An annoyed huff filled the air. "If we were the bad guys, would we have saved you from those creatures?" Donald asked.

I stared at the anthropomorphic duck incredulously. "And you think that's enough for me to trust you with my life? Right. I'm not stupid, you know," I said with a glare forming in my eyes, taking another step away.

Goofy took one small step towards me. "Please, Akari, you can trust us. I promise'," he said.

My head snapped over to the anthropomorphic dog before me, tensing for a moment. He, however, stayed where he was and said nothing more to me. I frowned, looking up into his eyes as if I could see the lies and evil intentions in them. But, all I saw was honesty and sincerity, the worry that he was expressing didn't look fake. A string of curses went through my mind as my guarded form began to relax itself slightly, my resolve beginning to die away. Goofy couldn't lie, I didn't know him that long but it was obvious. Besides, someone like Goofy wouldn't be with someone bad, right? He wouldn't be with Donald if the duck would hurt someone, right?

A sigh of defeat left my lips, and I really couldn't believe that I was doing this. I mean I JUST said that I wouldn't go with them. God, I'm either really stupid or for some reason have a really good judge of character.

"Fine," I said, looking at the two. "I'll go with you guys, okay?"

Donald relaxed himself and Goofy gave me a wide grin that I couldn't' help but return. Albeit reluctantly. "Thank you, Akari, we promise to keep ya safe from anymore of those creatures while we look for Leon," the dog said with a firm look in his eyes.

I blinked, slightly surprised by his tone.

"Well, we can't just let them attack you," the short-tempered duck said once he noticed my expression, this time without any growl or suspicion in his tone. Well, that's a first.

For the first time today, I smiled at Donald. "Thank you both," I said, also turning to Goofy as well.

""Don't mention it," Goofy said with his unique laugh, smiling wildly at me.

Donald just nodded, walking ahead of us.

However, I stopped him. "Before we go, I have something I want to ask you two." Realizing how that sounded I hurried to finish. "If you don't mind me doing that, that is," I said speaking up, a serious expression taking over my face.

The duck turned to me and rose an eyebrow. "What?"

"Why do you want to know about Sora's weapon?" I asked back.

Goofy sent a reluctant look to Donald, obviously remembering the numerous scoldings earlier. However, Donald gave me a serious expression back. "If your friend is the "Key" then we need to find him quickly. Our King made that clear," he said, and stared at him with even more confusion than before. King?

I frowned. "I don't understand."

"I'll explain once we find him," Donald said, and before I could ask him anything else he turned his back on me, and began to walk ahead of us. A scowl came to my lips, but I decided to hold my tongue this time.

Goofy and I followed after him, but my eyes wondered around the shops that we passed in search for my red clad friend. Most of the shops had large windows that let people see inside, but all I found were older men and women, sometimes with small children, in there. No Sora. However, I knew that I wasn't going to find him in the first few minutes of searching, so I kept my negative thoughts in the back of my mind. I would only get frustrated and irritable if I let all the stress get to me now, and it wouldn't be fair to Donald and Goofy if I acted like a child when they were helping me.

"Hey." I blinked as I came back to reality thanks to Goofy, but kept my eyes roaming the streets. "What does yer friend look like anyway?" he asked as he scratched the back of his head.

I resisted the urge to smack my head on something. "Sorry." I gave him and Donald a sheepish smile while Donald rolled his eyes. "He's got really spiky brown hair, blue eyes, is tan and wears a white, blue and red outfit with yellow shoes. It's really easy to spot him," I said with a small laugh, just thinking of his outfit. Although, I guess I'm not that different and Donald and Goofy aren't dressed that normally either.

Now that I think about it, a lot of people here were wearing dull colors, like browns and dark greens.

This place is boring.

"Well, at least it won't be hard to find him," Donald mumbled, catching my attention.

I laughed again, shaking my head at the visual. "I know, right? Its a really good thing that the guy likes to stand out," I said with a bright smile, my mood lifting to my surprise and relief.

"You seem ta be in a better mood, Akari," Goofy commented, smiling.

I rubbed the back of my head at the observation. "Well, you guys are basically helping me find my friend, so it seems kinda stupid to act like the world is ending. Its better to be positive, or at least that's what Sora thinks anyway," I said with a shrug, giving him a big smile in return.

"That's a good way ta think," the dog said with a nod.

"Now that I mention it," I mumbled looking up at the anthropomorphic dog. "You two will get a long great when we find him, you're both really easy going about things."

"Hey, what about me?" Donald asked, looking over his shoulder.

Again, I was surprised by Donald and I had to blink a few times to fully comprehend what he asked before I grinned down at him. "Of course. Sora can be friends with just about anybody." When Donald closed his eyes with a smug look on his face I moved closer to Goofy. "Even somebody like him," I muttered with a playful smirk, making Goofy laugh.

Donald, however, heard it and swiftly looked at me with narrowed, suspicious eyes. "What?"

"Huh?" I quickly asked back, smiling innocently.

Rolling his eyes, Donald continued to lead the way while Goofy and I laughed quietly behind him. Yeah, this won't be so bad, just as long as we find Sora in one piece. We continued to look seriously after that, our eyes searching through every stop and down every alleyway that we could find. However, when it was completely certain that my brown haired friend wasn't in First District we headed to the Second in hopes that we would at least get a clue that he was there or not.

The Second District looked like it belonged to a different town, the difference immediately noticeable once we stepped onto the dark gray cobblestone streets. Large buildings sprouted on both sides of Donald, Goofy and I, each building a tan color with red tiled roofs. Lanterns filled every corner, casting a warm, dim golden glow to wash over the streets as we walked past, our eyes still taking in every detail of the buildings or alleyways that we went by. However, as the minutes dragged by and no sign of Sora my hope was beginning to dwindle. A frown tugged on my lips as my honey orbs darted to shop windows in hopes that he would be in there, but all I saw were parents and children looking at the items stocked along the shelves. Soon, the shops turned into houses as we neared a darker part of the District, not even the lanterns above and before us were able to cast their soft glow to dispel the growing darkness.

I frowned as the shadows grew deeper and longer, and from the cowering stance that Goofy was beginning to get I knew that he wasn't too fond of this place either. Donald, however, was still looking with a determined expression on his feathered face, the ominous atmosphere not getting to him one bit. Well, aren't you the lucky one, Duck? I stopped my negative thoughts though, deciding to follow Donald's example because there was no way I was going to give up just yet. Sora just had to be here somewhere...

"Gawrsh," Goofy spoke up with his hand to his mouth, glancing around nervously, "there's nobody here. Sure is spooky!"

I bit my lip, feeling a chill run up my spine as my eyes roamed over the dark alleyway openings. A horrible feeling creeping over me, as if there were eyes following us from the darkness. "I think its nice. I always loved walking in creepy places like this," I mumbled sarcastically, rubbing my arm as I glanced around as well.

"Aw, phooey," Donald said with a bit of cockiness in his voice. "I'm not scared."

I rolled my eyes at that, now seeing more of his real personality instead of that cautious one that he showed me earlier. However, I was liking this one way better than the other, not like any of you can blame me though. But my thoughts were cut off when Donald let out a loud scream of fright, causing all three of us to jump. Goofy and I to jump thanks to Donald's scream, and Donald to jump because of whatever scared him. The poor little duck flew through the air before landing on Goofy's back, his arms wrapping securely and tightly around the dog's throat while I was breathing heavily with my hand holding my rapidly beating heart.

"What the hell, Donald!?" I shouted, my legs shaking slightly as I tried to calm my very alert body down. "You scared the crap out of me!"

"Excuse me."

All of us stiffened at the voice that appeared behind us, but I stiffened for a whole different reason than why the two boys did. This voice was a girl's voice. A very FAMILIAR girl's voice. My eyes widened in shock and at first I didn't want to turn around, but I immediately threw that thought to the back of my mind. What if it was really HER? Deciding to take the risk I slowly turned around while Goofy and Donald were still closing their eyes and shaking from the scare that Donald gave us a few seconds ago.

A gasp escaped my lips as I faced the girl behind us, and I felt like the wind had been knocked out of my when I saw that it really was HER.

"Did the King send you?" Kairi asked, a hopeful look in her indigo eyes.

Hearing the question and the gasp Donald and Goofy stopped their shaking, slowly turning around as well to see girl who I never expected to be here. Especially when she mentioned their beloved King. My mouth was open but no words were forming, my mind completely blank as I tried to process this...this confusing situation. How was she here? I saw her disappear right before my eyes, felt her disappear when her body flew through mine before dissipating like a ghost. This was getting too weird, and I was in too much confusion and shock to even wonder why Kairi didn't even look happy or relieved to see that I was all right.

"You know the King?" Goofy suddenly asked, knocking me out of my shocked state and bringing me back to the present. His eyes were filled with hope as well, taking a step towards the red head.

Kairi gave a nod, a gentle smile on her lips.

Donald slowly climbed down from Goofy before looking at her with the same look. "Are you with Leon?"

"Yes," the red head said, instantly making me eyes widen in shock. _What_!? "The King contacted us and told us that you two would be coming to find the "Key"." Her eyes suddenly stopped on my still form, a look of confusion appearing on her face. "However, he didn't say anything about anyone else coming."

My eyes narrowed slightly, that wasn't the reaction I was expecting to see.

Goofy smiled, stepping forward to introduce me to her even though I _knew_ that we didn't need any sort of introduction. "This is Akari, she's comin' with us to see Leon, too," he stated.

"Oh. Well, its nice to meet you, Akari," Kairi said sweetly.

Another feeling of something hitting me in the stomach and sucking all the air out of my lungs filled me, my eyes taking on the look of shock and disbelief. It was nice to _Meet _me!? What!? None of this was making sense! If this continued to go on like this I was sure that I was going to loose what little sanity I was beginning to believe I had left. However, before I could get lost in my scrambling, panicked thoughts I composed myself before I could cause myself a mental breakdown.

"...Kairi?" I asked hesitantly, scared to see if she still acted like she didn't know me. "Are you okay? Don't you remember me?"

Kairi gave me a concerned look. "Kairi? My name is Aerith," she said, her voice changing.

I blinked, Kairi's voice changed from the normal high tone that I was so use to hearing to a softer, slightly lower voice that I didn't recognize. Slowly, Kairi's appearance lifted and was replaced with a different, older girl all together. The girl standing in Kairi's place had long brown hair that was styled into a braid down her back with curls on either side of her face, her bangs framing her face and green eyes. She wore a pink dress with magenta lining and buttons going down the front, and around her waist was a loose, lilac belt with black string tied into a bow on it. On her wrists were coiled wire and a black string that matched her belt was around her neck like a necklace.

This girl was _not_ Kairi.

"Are you all right?" Aerith asked, the same concerned look still filling her face.

Donald and Goofy were giving me the same look, but for the moment I ignored them. I knitted my eyebrows together as I tried to comprehend what had happened. Why did I suddenly think she was Kairi? They bore no resemblance to each other at all, and why the hell did it seem so real? However, I shook those thoughts away, remembering the worried eyes that were on me.

I looked at all three, giving them a small smile. "Sorry, today's been a little tough. My eyes are playing tricks on me, but I'm fine now," I said with a forced laugh spilling from my lips.

"Are you sure?" Donald asked, looking skeptical.

I nodded. "Yeah."

Aerith looked unsure, but when I kept my gaze firm and my expression serious she motioned us to follow her. "Come on, we have much to talk about. I have an apartment not far from here that we can use, its much more comfortable there than it is out here," she said, a smile once again on her lips.

* * *

I looked around the room that Donald, Goofy and I stood in, while Aerith took a seat on a large white bed that sat opposite from us. The room was a rich brown color with red accents lining the walls along with pictures in dark frames. There were large, red double doors to my left, and another door on the far right where we had come through moments before. Aerith was going to start explaining what the information the King had given to her, and I could help but feel like things were really only beginning now. This wasn't just a simple mission of finding something, but something on a whole different level and that scared me. Not only because of that, but because I still haven't found Sora and who knows what could happen, I could leave this place and never come back. I could never see Sora again.

However, I shook that thought from my mind. There was no way that I was going to just leave without finding Sora, and there wasn't anything anybody could do to make me. Feeling myself relax from my slight scare I quickly became serious, knowing that some crucial information was going to be brought up. If Sora and I were really going to be going with Donald and Goofy then I would need to know what was going on.

"Okay," Aerith spoke up, instantly catching my attention, "you know there are many other worlds out there besides your castle and this town, right?"

"Yeah," Donald said with a nod.

"Considering I'm here, yes," I spoke up with a humorless smirk.

Goofy covered his muzzle with both hands, look around slightly. "But they're supposed to be a secret."

The pink clad girl was happy with our answers, that obviously taking a load off of her shoulders. It would have been hell trying to convince us if we didn't know anything. "They've been secret because they've never been connected. Until now. When the Heartless came, everything changed," she said, eyes closing.

"Heartless?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Donald looked confused as well. "Were they the things that attacked us?" he asked.

"Yes. They are those without hearts," Aerith stated, a solemn look overtaking her face. "The darkness in people's hearts- that's what attracts them. And there is darkness withing every heart."

"I see..." I frowned.

No wonder those Shadows kept attacking my chest back on the Island and here in Traverse Town. I scrunched my nose up slightly in distaste at the thought that I could possibly become one of those creatures. I suppressed a shiver at the thought of that, I did _not_ want to become one of them. Just even knowing that there was a possibility to become one of those emotionless things was scary. I liked my heart, thank you.

"Donald, Goofy." The three of us turned to Aerith again. "Have you ever heard of someone named Ansem?"

I blinked in confusion at the name, never even hearing it before. Ever. It was a good thing that she didn't ask me, I'm pretty much useless.

...Thanks me, that's such a confidence boost.

Shut up.

"Ansem?" Goofy asked, his hand to his chin in confusion.

Hearing his familiar voice I quickly came back to reality, silently scolded myself for fighting...with myself. At this rate I was going Sora, Donald and Goofy were better off with an infant, even their attention span was better than mine. ...Here I go again! GAH!

"He was studying the Heartless," Aerith stated. "He recorded all of his findings in a very detailed report."

My eyes widened at that. "Wow, someone was actually willing to STUDY those things?" Aerith nodded, giggling slightly at my shocked expression. "I wonder what he found out," I mumbled, now interested.

"Gawrsh, uh, can we see it?" Goofy asked, agreeing.

Aerith frowned at that, and shook her head. "Its pages are scattered everywhere," she explained.

Donald rose an eyebrow. "Scattered?" he asked, arms crossed over his chest.

"To many worlds," she answered.

"Well, that's nice." I copied the duck's gesture, a frown appearing on my lips. "Who knows how many worlds are actually out there. It could take forever," I said with a bit of a groan in my voice, there could be thousands of worlds that would need to be searched. Besides, how many pages were there anyway? Probably a lot.

Goofy suddenly slammed his fist into his palm, eyes alight with understanding. "Oh, then maybe the King went to find 'em," he stated.

Donald smiled, nodding up at his tall companion.

"Yes, those were my thoughts exactly," Aerith said with a smile.

A look of excitement appeared on Goofy's face, and I couldn't help but smile at him. This King must have been a very good one if these two were going to all this trouble. "We've gotta find him quick!" he said with a grin stretching across his muzzle.

"Wait!" All three of us turned to look down at Donald. "First we need that "Key"!" he shouted.

"That's right." Aerith nodded. "The Keyblade."

Donald, Goofy and I turned to the older girl when we heard that familiar name. "So, the Keyblade really is the Key?" I asked, my thoughts instantly going to Sora on that night, remembering the silver and gold weapon in his hand.

"Yes," the older girl confirmed, but looked confused. "But, how do you know about the Keyblade, Akari?"

I winced for a second at my blunder. "Well...you see my friend...he actually-"

"Yuffie, go!" a man suddenly shouted, cutting me off.

All of us whipped our heads over to the large, red double doors and Aerith quickly stood up from her spot on the large white bed. A very tense silence filled the room instantly, none of us sure if we should move or not. Donald, Goofy and I shared glances before turning back to the door, having no idea that there had been other people behind that door. The knowledge that there had been people in there, and the urgent shout from one of them made me feel uneasy. However, when I heard a strange sound from inside the room I knew that it had to do something with the Heartless, it didn't sound like a natural noise so that was the only conclusion I could come up with. Or at least that's what I thought, and I was desperately hoping that I was wrong.

"What was that?" Goofy asked, eyes wide.

Donald's eyes narrowed as he walked over to the red doors, and I stepped forward to stop him, not wanting him to be faced with whatever could be behind there. However, before I could tell Donald to wait the red door that Donald reached for suddenly flung open, slamming the poor duck into the wall that had been beside him. I winced at the loud slam, but my attention was diverted away from Donald when I saw a black haired girl in yellow, green and white clothing run past Aerith, Goofy and I. Despite how fast she had ran I could see the fear on her face, and that did NOT sit well with me.

What the _hell_ was going on here?

"Yuffie?" Aerith asked, a look of fear and concern overtaking her features before she ran after the girl.

Goofy and I were left to stand in the middle of the room in a bit of stunned silence, that whole scene happening way too fast for us to comprehend. I mean, what happened? Where there really Heartless in there? Just thinking of those emotionless creatures made me shiver slightly, the thought of my near death experience -yes I'm calling it that- coming back to me. Nice. That's what I need. Thanks me. However, Goofy and I heard a groan come from behind the door, reminding us of Donald. Sharing sheepish glances with each other, the two of us went to the door where our duck friend was trapped behind.

I peeked behind the door, seeing a rather flattened looking duck squished against a wall. "Uh...Donald?" I couldn't help but wince at him, knowing that it didn't feel nice at all. "Are you all rig-"

"Sora, lets go!" the same man from earlier called, once again cutting me off mid-sentence.

My hand instantly dropped from its hold on the door, and my eyes widened. That familiar name reaching my ears and echoing itself countless times inside of my head. A shaky gasp fell from my lips, and a small bit of anger began to form as I realized that this whole time the boy I've been searching for the last some-odd minutes for was in the room next to me. However, I was pulled out my shocked state when the door that had slammed into Donald closed, the sound knocking the sense that I desperately needed back into me. My body whipped to the door and I threw it open, once again slamming into Donald. I heard him let out a squawk of pain and heard Goofy ask if he was all right, but I ignored them.

I ran into the room, my eyes catching a glimpse of bright yellow shoes disappearing out the window to my right before they were gone. My heart was beating loudly in my chest and for a few shorts seconds I was unable to move. However, when the thought of him once again being out of my sight and lost came to my mind my legs were once able to move. Rushing to the window and sticking my torso out I saw Sora's body turn a corner, once again out of my sight with those Shadows following after him. These ones were different though, their muscular forms were clad in a bluish-black body suit bearing a heart shaped emblem and purple inverted emblems trimmed in gold on the knees. They wore black, silver trimmed shoes that ended in spiral toes, silver wristbands, and a silver knight's helm decorated with two angular, eye-like spirals on the front and a yellow stripe at the base of the curled silver plume. Their fierce blue and red-tipped claws, and their shadowed faces with bright yellow eyes and toothy maw scared me horribly. My heart was beating loudly in my chest and for a few shorts seconds I was unable to move as I watched the Soldiers disappear after my friend.

I need to follow him.

Now.

"Akari?" Goofy's voice startled me, and I recoiled back into the room to face him and Donald. "Are you all right? What happened?"

Donald glared, rubbing his head that I was pretty sure was hurting him right now. Couldn't blame him though. "And what's the big idea!? Why'd you throw a door at me!?" he snapped angrily, blue eyes in slits.

I didn't answer them right away, my mind too frazzled with this sudden turn of events. I was aware that I probably looked crazy to them, mostly because I felt like a jumpy mess. Each passing second seemed to go by faster, making me realize that Sora was getting further and further away. My heart beat went up even higher, and I could feel my breathing becoming faster as well. God me, why do I keep stalling!?

"Sora," I breathed out, quickly going over to them and dragging them out of the room. "I found Sora!"

Goofy's eyes widened, not resisting. "Ya did? Where?"

"No time! We have to go after him!" I let them go and rushed over to the door that Aerith and Yuffie left open in their haste moments ago. "Come on!" I said quickly, motioning them to follow me, my eyes darting over to the door every other second.

The two didn't waste any time nodding, their weapons appearing in their hands in that familiar flash of light not even a second later. Remembering those Soldiers following after Sora I did as well, and I wasn't sure if it was my wish for it come out or it just knew but it appeared in my hand before I could even really register it completely. However, I turned my attention towards the door and rushed out, making sure to hear Donald and Goofy's footsteps following me. I have never fought these things before, and I doubt my brilliant strategy of kicking those Heartless things counts as fighting so I needed all the help that I could get. Lets just hope that I don't mess up anything, but knowing my luck that's probably whats going to happen.

I focused on the general direction that I saw Sora go in, my eyes searching for any of those Heartless, my skin crawling just at the thought of those things popping up. However, I relaxed slightly when Donald and Goofy appeared by my side, giving me at least sense of security that I desperately needed at this time. That sense of security, though, wasn't going to last. As we got closer to the area I knew I saw Sora disappear in we heard the sounds of fighting. My heart leapt into my throat as the sound got closer with each pump of our legs, and I hoped that it was Sora.

My hopes, however, were dashed.

Of course.

When we turned a corner we saw the Yuffie girl that slammed the door on Donald, Aerith and a man with brown hair. The man with brown hair with a scar on his face, using my amazing observational abilities, was obviously the Leon person that Donald and Goofy had been talking about. In his hands was a blade that was shaped like a gun at the handle. Yuffie had a large four-point shuriken clutched in her hands, and was helping Leon take out the Shadows and Soldiers that littered the area around them. Aerith was being guarded by both, her hands in a praying motion. At first I was confused, but could you blame me? Praying will not help!

However, my thoughts were cut off when a flash of green light and green leaves filled the air around Leon and Yuffie before fading away into nothing. My eyes widened, but I shook my head as I looked over at Donald and Goofy. The two looked back at me and in unison we nodded before rushing over to help out. There were at least thirty something of those stupid thins attacking them, and I would never live with myself if I just ran past them to deal with this by themselves.

"Hey!" I ran forward. "You guys need some help?" I called out to them worriedly.

The three turned to us, and each of their expressions were different. Confusion, surprise and shock. Well, that's kind of understandable. I mean, I don't think they really knew anything about Donald or Goofy, and I was completely useless. I had no weapon, I couldn't use magic like Aerith and Donald, so what the hell could I do?

"What are you three doing here?" Aerith asked, concern filling her features as she looked at us, only glancing away when she heard the sound of the Heartless getting closer.

Goofy held his shield at the ready, positioning himself in front of her. "We can't just leave ya guys."

Donald only nodded.

"Thanks!" Yuffie couldn't help but grin as she caught her shuriken in her hand without even having to look. "We can take care of these guys, but its nice to have some help!" she said happily, making me stare at her with confused and slightly alarmed eyes. How was she so carefree about something like this? That girl is crazy...

However, I turned my attention away from her and looked towards Leon when I heard him let out grunt. Said brown haired man was fighting expertly with his gun shaped weapon, slashing the Heartless around with graceful movements that I envied. Especially since I couldn't do a thing to help. I was just left standing here at the edge of the "battlefield", worriedly. Worried for them and for Sora who is out on his own now, probably fighting these things as well. That sickening feeling gripped me once again, and I felt my mind go blank when I tried to figure out what to do.

Man, I was useless.

God, this day just keeps getting worse, doesn't it?

A sudden idea, however, struck me in that moment and I turned towards Leon once again. "Leon!" Blue eyes snapped to my form. "You know a boy named Sora, right?" I asked, hoping that he at least trusted me to answer that.

The brown haired man glanced to me, but said nothing as he returned to exterminating the ant like creatures.

I stared a bit in shock at the cold refusal, but even if I didn't like it I could understand why he didn't trust me. Hell, I acted just like him with Donald and Goofy earlier, but I _knew_ I wouldn't do anything to Sora. Too bad he didn't know that.

"Please," I tried again. "You have to tell me where Sora is! I'm one of his friends that was on our Island before it disappeared! I need to know where he is!" I shouted to him desperately.

"He headed towards the Third District," was Leon's answer.

My eyes widened in surprise for a moment, and for a second there I really thought he wasn't going to tell me anything. A silent sigh of relief passed through my lips, my hand going to my heart for a second.

Thank god...

I, however, was pulled out of my relieved thoughts when lightning suddenly shot down in front of me, making me let out a yelp of surprise and jump back. A sudden black mist exploded a second later, and I finally realized that I had come this - close to being killed by one of the Heartless.

"Pay attention, Akari!" Donald snapped to my left, and I turned to him to see the exasperated glare being sent my way.

Well, excuse me for being happy Duck.

I didn't say that out loud though, Donald _did_ just save my life right now. "Sorry!" I turned back to Leon and gave him an appreciative smile. "Thank you so much, Leon, I owe you one," I said, my tone filling with relief as well.

Leon kept his eyes on his fight, but was able to reply, "Its fine, just find Sora."

Goofy held his shield up to guard himself from a potentially deadly swipe from one of the Soldiers before turning to the three residents of this World. "But what about you guys?" he asked, his tone filled with worry as he saw the still growing numbers of Heartless appearing every so often. Geez, when was this going to end?

"I already told you before, we've got this covered!" Yuffie said as she grinned at us, and I still think she's crazy. I mean come on! "Sora might need your help though, so you better get going!"

"Be safe you three," Aerith said, giving us a concerned smile.

I bit my lip as I watched the three turned back to their fights, or the two at least anyway. However, seeing that they were still holding their own I decided to follow their instructions. "Thank you." I turned to Donald and Goofy. "You guys ready?" I asked, and my two (very unlikely) companions gave me a stimulation nod of their heads. They looked more sure than I was, though. I really didn't want to leave these three. I mean, what if something happened to them? I would NEVER be able to live with myself, as I stated before.

"Yup!" Goofy said, and I had to stop myself from getting a blank stare when he smiled at me in a very carefree way.

...Am I missing something?

I shook the thought from my head and gestured the two anthropomorphic animals to follow me as I dashed towards the other side of this District. I remembered seeing Sora heading in this direction, and I just hoped that he didn't go somewhere else. If he was hurt somewhere I wouldn't know what to do. He's the only person I have left now, not including Donald and Goofy. If he disappeared like Kairi and Riku I...

I shook my head to make those thoughts vanish, already nervous enough without making myself have a nervous break down. That wouldn't be good. With my resolve once again in tact, I narrowed my eyes seriously and picked up my speed to keep up with Donald and Goofy as they began to get ahead of me.

You better be all right when I find you Sora...

* * *

**So yeah, I'm so sorry for the very long wait. But I wanted to change it so I could make it original like I already stated.**

**Sorry for that anonymous reviewer who made me think of this, I deleted your review and I really regret doing that! Forgive me. D:**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it at least! Drop a review if you want cause I would love to hear from more of you! Also, thank you Mez13 and grapejuice101 for reviewing my last chapter! I really appreciated it, it made me smile. :3**

**Bye~!**


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